Udinese’s Bluenergy Stadium has been announced as the host of next year’s UEFA Super Cup, while a campaign has been launched for the facility to become the first smoke-free venue in Italy.
The 2025 Super Cup, which is contested by the winners of the Champions League and Europa League, will take place on August 13. It will mark the first time the event has taken place in Italy since it moved to a single-leg fixture in 1998.
Since completing work on a three-year renovation project in 2016, the 25,144-capacity Bluenergy Stadium has hosted the Italian national team four times, most recently in October. The stadium also hosted the 2019 UEFA European U21 Championship final.
Udinese said UEFA’s decision to take the Super Cup to Bluenergy Stadium was influenced by the club’s sustainability projects, such as a planned solar park. Such projects align with UEFA’s plans to encourage a circular economy across European football.
Udinese managing director Franco Collavino said: “This event is not only a milestone for sports but also a momentous occasion for the city of Udine and the entire Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, underscoring the central role sport plays in our community.
“We are fully committed to delivering an exceptional event, and it’s important to note that the Udinese project continues to prove its ability to attract prestigious events while elevating the region’s profile.”
This year’s Super Cup was held at the PGE Narodowy stadium in Warsaw and was won by Real Madrid.
Earlier this month, the Udine city council gave the green light for a redevelopment of Bluenergy Stadium, which is also known as Stadio Friuli. The upgrade will span a space of 20,000 square metres and will include development for the building of restaurants, a commercial area, a sports centre and swimming pool, a hotel, and a sports museum of Friuli Venezia-Giulia.
Meanwhile, Udinese has teamed up with Marevivo Foundation to launch ‘One Mission, One Planet’, a campaign to cut down on CO2 emissions and litter outside stadiums.
The initiative is being carried out with BAT Italy with the support of start-up company JustOnEarth and the Friuli Venezia-Giulia region. A fan awareness campaign will be run at Udinese home matches until the end of next season.
One of the goals of the campaign is to initiate a process that leads to Bluenergy Stadium becoming the first smoke-free facility in Italy. The campaign seeks to use technological innovation and information to increase fans’ understanding and public opinion of the environmental impact caused by not disposing of small items of waste correctly at sporting events.
The campaign will include signage and the screening of videos during matches and also aims to incentivise the use of sustainable transport such as car sharing and electric vehicles.
In other news, UEFA has announced today that the winners of the Nations League quarter-finals between Italy and Germany will be the provisional hosts for the finals of the tournament from June 4-8 next year.
The home stadiums of Juventus, Torino, Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart have been selected to host the matches.
