Champions League final moved to Paris from St Petersburg after Ukraine invasion

UEFA, the apex governing body for football in Europe, has moved the Champions League final venue for the 2021/22 season from the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg in Russia to the Stade de France in the French capital of Paris in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The final will take place on May 28.

The announcement came on Friday after UEFA held an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee to discuss a response to the security situation in Europe, which deteriorated rapidly on Thursday after Russia moved its troops into Ukraine. Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the country’s football association had appealed to FIFA and UEFA to remove Russia and its club teams from their tournaments.

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“The UEFA Executive Committee today held an extraordinary meeting following the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe,” said UEFA in a statement,” UEFA said in a statement.

“The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021-22 UEFA Men’s Champions League from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday, 28 May at 9 p.m. CET,” the governing body further said.

UEFA went on to thank French President Emmanuel Macron for his “personal support and commitment” to helping move the Champions League final.

“Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement, the apex body further said.

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UEFA also announced that Ukrainian and Russian teams would play their home games in UEFA tournaments in neutral venues “until further notice.”

The last time the Champions League final was held in the Stade de France was in 2006, when Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-1, courtesy of goals by Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti, to lift the European cup for the second time in their history.