Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
The city hosts numerous international sporting events, be it independently or on behalf of Wales or the United Kingdom. Rugby fans around the world have long been familiar with the Cardiff Arms Park and its successor the Millennium Stadium, a visible presence from in and around the city. Early this century, hundreds of thousands of English football and rugby league supporters visited Cardiff during the six years (from 2001 to 2006) it took to rebuild Wembley Stadium, as the FA Cup and Rugby League Challenge Cup finals (and several other competitions) were played at the Millennium Stadium. In 2009, Cardiff hosted the first Ashes cricket test, between England and Australia, to be held in Wales. Cardiff hosted eight football matches of the London 2012 Olympics and was the training base for certain participating nations.
In 2008/09, 61% of Cardiff residents regularly participated in sport and active recreation, the highest percentage out of all 22 local authorities in Wales.
Read more about Sport In Cardiff: Overview, Multi-sport Organisations
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