Uefa dashes British hopes

Sunderland had been keen to host the 2005 Uefa Cup final

Newcastle, Sunderland and Hampden Park have missed out on the right to stage the 2005 Uefa Cup final.

European football's governing body awarded the final to Sporting Lisbon's Jose Alvalade Stadium, one of two Portuguese venues in the running.

Uefa's executive committee also handed the 2005 Champions League final to the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

Five other venues, including Paris' Stade de France and Madrid's Vicente Calderon, were in the running.

A Sunderland statement on the club's official website said: "The club would like to extend its congratulations to Portugal on being successful in their bid to host the Uefa Cup final.

"In applying to Uefa to be considered for this match, the Stadium of Light became a Uefa-approved venue.

"This allows us to be considered for future games, which of course we would be delighted to host."

The Scottish Football Association insisted the news would not diminish its desire to bring major sporting finals to their national stadium in Glasgow.

A spokesman said: "We are disappointed not to get the big match to Hampden Park, but we will continue to try and attract the major events to the national stadium in the future."

It will be the first time that a European final has been held in Turkey and the first time the Uefa Cup final will have been staged in Portugal since it became a one-off game in 1998.

The Ataturk Olympic stadium in Istanbul has an 80,000 capacity, while the Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon has room for 50,000 fans.

It will be also used for matches in this summer's Euro 2004 championship.

This year's Champions League final is being held in Gelsenkirchen and the Uefa Cup final in Gothenburg.