Cardiff has staged the Heineken Cup and Champions Cup deciders on seven previous occasions, with the last taking place in 2014. (EPCR)

The EPCR governing body and organizer of the European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup major club rugby union tournaments, has announced that Wales and Spain will stage the 2025 and 2026 Finals Weekends.

The decision follows a tender process undertaken with the Sports Consultancy that generated bids from 23 stadia across 12 countries.

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The board of the EPCR awarded the 2025 Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup finals to Cardiff's 74,000-capacity Principality Stadium, and the 2026 matches will return to the 53,331-capacity San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao.

Cardiff has staged the Heineken Cup and Champions Cup deciders on seven previous occasions, with the last taking place in 2014.

Bilbao, meanwhile, staged the first EPCR finals weekend outside of rugby’s traditional six nations in 2018.

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Dominic McKay, chairman of EPCR, said: “Our selection of host cities such as this reflects our intention to continually deliver outstanding experiences for fans, clubs, and stakeholders for our marquee weekend. 

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“We were delighted to receive so many bids and expressions of interest from across the world. The final decisions were certainly challenging given the high standard of all bidders.”

Since the first in 1996, EPCR finals have been staged at 23 different venues in six different countries. The EPCR has stated that dates for the 2025 and 2026 Finals Weekends, as well as ticketing, will be announced in the future.

Last month, the EPCR announced a collaboration with the World Rugby governing body to expand coverage of the European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup.

RugbyPass TV, World Rugby’s streaming platform, will broadcast EPCR’s tournaments on a combination of a free-to-air and pay-per-view basis in Japan, the Middle East, and North Africa.