UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, requires host cities to reserve hotel rooms far in advance of games to ensure players, officials and sponsors have accommodation — putting the squeeze on visiting fans when finals are played in smaller cities. "Whilst Cardiff's accommodation capacity is lower than previous UCL final host cities, the Cardiff 2017 LOC (local organizing committee) have taken pro-active steps to ensure that it will deliver a memorable event for all attendees," UEFA said. Many visitors for the final will only make a fleeting visit to the host city, with plans to fly about 25,000 people in and out on the day by charter aircraft from Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham, UEFA said. Cardiff was awarded the Champions League final by the UEFA executive committee in 2015 without an open contest several months after losing a bid to be a 2020 European Championship venue.