Signal Iduna Park is the name the Westfalenstadion carries from December 2005 until June 2011. It is a football stadium in the German city of Dortmund (8th biggest German city). It is the home ground of the BV Borussia Dortmund football team and will host several matches of the 2006 World Cup, including a semi-final. It has a league capacity of 81,264 (standing and seated), and an international capacity of 67,000 (seated only). The stadium was named after the former Prussian province of Westphalia, which is now part of the German state North Rhine-Westphalia. It is Germany's biggest stadium and established the European record in fan attendance in 2004/2005 with a total of almost 1.4 million fans.

The property of the Westfalenstadion, originally belonging to the city of Dortmund and later sold to the club Borussia Dortmund, was sold to a real estate trust in 2002 when the club was facing serious financial problems. Borussia Dortmund intended to repurchase the stadium gradually up to 2017, but was not able to pay the regular rates in spring 2005. Holders of the trust agreed in cutting back the asset's interest rates and allowed the club to pay the rates after financial reorganisation. Because of these measures, bankruptcy of the club was avoided and the future of the facility was secured.

In order to reduce debt, the naming rights to the stadium was sold to an insurance company Signal Iduna. From December 2005 on, the stadium is known as the "Signal Iduna Park". However, during the FIFA World Cup in 2006, the stadium will be called "FIFA World Cup Stadium Dortmund", since FIFA controls all naming rights in connection with the World Cup.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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