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The European Football Association (UEFA) has decided today to move Europe’s most prestigious cup final from Russia to France.
Initially scheduled to take place on May 28 at the Gazprom Avenue in St Petersburg, UEFA decided to move the 2021/22 UEFA Men’s Champions League final to the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris.
The decision comes following an emergency UEFA meeting today in response to the recent escalation in Ukraine.
A statement from the UEFA expressed “thanks and appreciation” to French President Emmanuel Macron for his commitment to host the final game of Europe’s most prestigious tournament in “France at a time of unparalleled crisis.”
UEFA vowed to collaborate with the French government to help football players and their families flee the burden of war in Ukraine, and rescue them from “dire human suffering, destruction and displacement.”
Both Ukrainian and Russian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA events will have to play away from home until further notice, according to the statement.
The European association had been under pressure to relocate the Champions League’s final game from Russian since the recent escalation emerged, but only took it into consideration after the start of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine on February 24.
The Kremlin lamented UEFA’s decision, with its spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying that “it’s a shame that such a decision has been made.”
Peskov explained that Russia would have deployed all necessary efforts to guarantee the safe organization of the tournament’s final game. “St Petersburg could have provided all favorable conditions to hold this football festival,” he said.
Meanwhile, UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries backed UEFA’s “decisive action,” denouncing Russia’s intention to use the match to promote and legitimize its unprovoked, premeditated and needless attack against a sovereign democratic state.”
FIFA still has not made any statement about the Ukraine and Russia World Cup playoffs scheduled for March, with its president Gianni Infantino condemning Russia’s use of power and violence in the conflict with Ukraine.
