The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ruled that the A-League runners-up Western Sydney Wanderers' home ground of Parramatta Stadium is suitable to host the first leg of the AFC Champions league (ACL) final against Saudi Arabia club Al Hilal on Oct. 25.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Wanderers' management have worked overtime to ensure that the ground -- also known as Pirtek Stadium -- is compliant with AFC regulations regarding international media access and corporate hospitality for VIP guests.
The club management were simultaneously lobbying the continental confederation about the 22,000-capacity stadium. A large number of international dignitaries, including members of the Saudi Arabian ruling family, are expected to attend the final.
The iconic home ground, with its catchy Wanderland nickname, has become a fortress for the Wanderers in both domestic and regional competitions.
"We thank the AFC for ensuring we get a real home advantage and we anticipate it will be standing room only when we take on Al-Hilal later this month," Wanderers chairman John Tsatsimas told The Sydney Morning Herald.
"Reaching the final of the biggest competition in Asia is an amazing achievement and playing at our home ground will give the team a huge lift as we know a packed Parramatta Stadium will give us the extra drive that our whole club experiences every time we open the doors to Wanderland.
"While a bigger venue may have given us the ability to pack in a larger audience, the opportunity we have before us to win the ACL on our maiden attempt is one we will need every possible advantage in achieving."
The Wanderers, who are seeking to win the premier continental club tournament at their first attempt, boast a 100 percent record at the Parramatta Stadium during the knockout stages. They defeated J-League team Sanfreece Hiroshima in the round of 16, which was followed by historic home wins against last year's winners and runners-up, Guangzhou Evergrande and FC Seoul, in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. In the group stages, Western Sydney won two of their three home matches with only a loss to Korean team Ulsan Hyundai tarnishing what would have been a perfect home record.
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If the AFC had not given the green light to Parramatta Stadium, the two other alternatives for hosting the first leg in Sydney were Allianz Stadium and the ANZ Stadium. Both are larger venues than the club's home ground and meet AFC guidelines regarding media access and corporate hospitality.
Given such a scenario, it is believed that the Wanderers management would have opted for the 83,000 seater ANZ Stadium due to its location in the western suburbs of Sydney and also because the Allianz Stadium is the home ground of Wanderers' A-League city rivals, Sydney FC.
Western Sydney are seeking to become the first A-League club to win the competition The club can now focus entirely on defeating their formidable opponents, Al Hilal. The Saudi Arabian club are in fine form and have a rich array of attacking talents spearheaded by creative midfielder Thiago Neves, who has eight caps for the Brazilian national team.
The Wanderers will need to be at the top of their game over two legs as Al Hilal are hungry to add to their impressive list of silverware. It entails 13 Saudi Arabian league titles, 29 Saudi Arabian cup triumphs and six Asian titles including two title wins in the previous version of the AFC Champions League.
With Parramatta Stadium having been cleared to host the first leg, confidence will be high in the Wanderers camp. They aim to be in a position of strength when they take the flight to Saudi Arabia for the daunting second leg on Nov. 1.