NYON, Switzerland: Paris’ Stade de France will host this season’s Champions League final after Saint Petersburg was stripped of the match in the aftermath of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, the UEFA executive committee, which held an extraordinary meeting Friday, has announced.
The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.
“UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis. 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, a statement issued by European football’s governing body after the meeting said.
At Friday’s meeting, the UEFA executive committee also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA competitions will be required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.
The final was supposed to be played at the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, which already hosted several matches at last year’s European Championship and at the 2018 World Cup held in Russia, AFP reports. UEFA made no reference to its relationship with Gazprom, the Russian state energy giant that is a key sponsor of European football’s governing body.
With a capacity of 80,000, it was also the venue for the 1998 World Cup final and the final of Euro 2016.
