The Stadium of Light will NOT be one of 13 venues for the competition.
Sunderland, Coventry, Bristol, Derby and Southampton, who were on the original long list of venues, have all been omitted from the final list.
The 13 venues selected are: Twickenham (10 matches); Wembley Stadium (two matches); Olympic Stadium (five matches); Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (eight matches); Etihad Stadium, Manchester (one match); St James’ Park, Newcastle (three matches); Elland Road, Leeds (two matches); King Power Stadium, Leicester (three matches); Villa Park, Birmingham (two matches); Kingsholm, Gloucester (four matches); stadiummk, Milton Keynes (three matches); Amex Stadium, Brighton (two matches) and Sandy Park, Exeter (three matches).