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Auckland's Eden Park has been confirmed as the host venue for both semi-finals and final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the organising company's chief executive said on Friday.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RWCL) chief executive Martin Snedden said logistical and financial considerations meant it was not feasible for semi-finals to be played in the smaller venues at Christchurch or Wellington.

"Once you get further into project and you realise some of the logistical and financial challenges it becomes pretty clear that as long as the redevelopment of Eden Park goes ahead on time, it's the obvious venue to host both the final and the semi-finals," Snedden told Radio New Zealand on Friday.

Stadia in Christchurch and Wellington had been hoping to stage one or both the semi-finals with the final at the redeveloped Eden Park, which would have a capacity of 62,000.

However Snedden said the semi-finals would be held on consecutive days and the logistics of transporting up to 30,000 fans from either of the cities to Auckland, possibly within the space of 24 hours, had scuppered their hopes.

"We've been through the logistical exercise -- you just can't possibly shift that number of people around and be sure they'd make it," he added.

"The risk is too high and you just can't take risks in this type of project."

Under the hosting agreement with the International Rugby Board (IRB), the only source of revenue available to local organisers is from ticket sales.

Even with the semi-finals and final at the larger Eden Park, organisers expected to make a loss of NZ$30 million (12.1 million pounds) on the tournament.

Eden Park, which hosted the first World Cup final in 1987 is undergoing a NZ$190m redevelopment to increase its capacity. The original bid had said the capacity would be in excess of 60,000.

Christchurch's Lancaster Park is also undergoing a NZ$60m redevelopment, but would still only have a capacity of about 45,000. Wellington's Railyards Stadium has a capacity of 40,000.

Snedden also confirmed that venues for the four quarter-finals and the third-place playoff would be confirmed in the third quarter of 2008. The allocation of the 40 pool-phase matches and team bases would be finalised in the first quarter of 2009, he said in a RWCL statement.

Seedings, based on the IRB's world rankings, of the 12 teams already qualified for the tournament and grouping of the teams into pools would also be confirmed in December 2008.

(Source: Reuters)