Riverbank Arena is located inside Olympic Park, a sporting complex, at Hackney in east London. It is one of the important venues for London summer Olympics 2012. Riverbank Arena is a newly built stadium for 2012 London Olympics football and hockey games. It is a temporary arrangement made for the 2012 London Olympics. The stadium will be dissolved once the game is over. Riverbank Arena consists of two pitches- one with spectator seating and other with warm up zone. The first of the two pitches was opened in October 2011. The ground is painted in blue in the backdrop of pink to match the colors of the Games. Riverbank Arena is set to host Olympic Hockey and Paralympic 5-a-side and 7-a-side Football during London summer Olympics 2012. It has seating capacities of 5000 and 15,000. After the Games, the venue will be scaled down to a training pitch for the athletes.
Fast Facts
Sport Events Paralympic Seven-a side Football, Hockey, Paralympic Five-a-side Football,
Location Olympic Park
New or Existing New
Permanent or Temporary Temporary
Number of Events 4 Events
Riverbank Arena 2012 London Olympics
Located inside the Olympic Park, Riverbank Arena will be the venue for Olympic Hockey and Paralympic 5 a-side and Paralympic 7 a-side Football during the London 2012 Games. The construction of its surrounding structure is still underway and the venue will go on floor for the test event in May 2012. Riverbank Arena is being built around a budget of £19 millions. The test event, Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament which is a part of the London Prepares series, will be held at Riverbank Arena from 2-6 May 2012. The world Men's Hockey champions German and Australian teams are taking part in the test event. Riverbank will be the host to four sporting events during the 2012 London Olympics games.
During The Games
Riverbank Arena will host Olympic Hockey and Paralympic 5-a-side and 7-a-side Football for London summer Olympics 2012. Its pink and blue pitches are the most striking features of Riverbank Arena. The main pitch has got 5000 and 15,000 seating capacity and other pitch serving as warm up zone for players. 7-a-side Football is a variation of football played at Paralympic games which adheres to FIFA rules. It has been part of the Paralympic games since the New York and Stoke Mandeville 1984 games. It is considered as fiercely competitive and fast-moving sport played by athletes with cerebral palsy. Each team comprises of seven players. The Paralympic tournament will present eight men's teams starting with two groups of four teams playing in a round-robin format. The two leading teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals and then semi-final winning teams going for a final round. The Paralympic Football 5-a-side competition will be held from 31 August to 8 September 2012 played by visually impaired athletes. Football 5-a-side debuted at Athens in 2004 with Brazil winning gold.
After The Games
After the games, the Riverbank Arena will move to Eton Manor, an area north of the Olympic Park. The arena will turn into 3,000 permanent seating capacities with flexibility to expand up to 15,000 seating capacity and both the pitches will be used for hosting Paralympic football events. Leyton Orient F.C. of the league one football team has also expressed interest in moving the Hockey Centre after the Olympic event.
Riverbank Arena will go down to history for being a host to Olympic Hockey and Paralympic 5-a-side and 7-a-side Football for London summer Olympics 2012.
Riverbank Arena is one of the important venues for London summer Olympics 2012. Learn about Riverbank Arena before making travel plans for London summer Olympics 2012.