neutral venue

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablesport

   A place for a sports event or competition that is not the home ground of either team or player.

   Grammar: Countable: a neutral venue, two neutral venues. Often used with 'at' or 'to'.

   Patterns

   • play at a neutral venue
   • move the match to a neutral venue
   • use a neutral venue

   Because of the security concerns, the final was played at a neutral venue.

   The league decided to hold the game at a neutral venue to ensure fairness.

   Fans traveled to a neutral venue for the championship match.

2. 2nouncountable

   Any location chosen for an event that is not connected to either side in a dispute or competition.

   Grammar: Can be used for non-sports events too, such as negotiations or meetings.

   Patterns

   • choose a neutral venue for something
   • hold talks at a neutral venue

   The peace talks took place at a neutral venue in a neighboring country.

   They selected a neutral venue for the debate so neither candidate felt disadvantaged.

   The conference was moved to a neutral venue to avoid protests.

Word forms

Common combinations

play at a neutral venue

The cup final will be played at a neutral venue this year.

move to a neutral venue

The match was moved to a neutral venue after the stadium was damaged.

neutral venue for

They needed a neutral venue for the boxing match.

host at a neutral venue

The city agreed to host the tournament at a neutral venue.

Synonyms and how they differ

neutral ground

Neutral ground is a more general term for any fair meeting place, while neutral venue is typically used for organized events like sports matches.

Commonly confused: neutral venue or home venue?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “neutral venue”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words