The European Football Association has moved this year’s Champions League final from Skt. Petersburg to Paris.
The showdown will be played at the Stade de France, but the date does not deviate from the original plan. The contest for the prestigious trophy continues on Saturday 28 May. This is stated by UEFA on its website.
The decision was made at an emergency meeting which took place on Friday morning in UEFA’s executive committee. The acute gathering was, of course, due to the acts of war in Ukraine.
This is the third year in a row that the Champions League final will not be held in the host city it was planned. In 2020 and 2021, it was the corona pandemic that set the stage for the program.
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Get wiser to the war in Ukraine, which is now having consequences for the Champions League final ranking.
More changes
In the football sense, the Russian invasion will not only have an impact on the biggest match of the Champions League tournament.
Another consequence of Friday’s meeting is that Russian and Ukrainian clubs as well as the two national teams’ respective national teams will in future play their home matches on neutral ground.
If they participate in UEFA tournaments, mind you. This applies indefinitely.
Thus, Russian Spartak Moscow – which is the only remaining representative from one of the two countries across European tournaments – can continue to be allowed to participate in the Europa League.
Just as Ukraine and Russia can still chase the dream of World Cup participation. The two countries play playoff matches in an effort to make it to this year’s finals in Qatar.
Ukraine’s first challenge on that front will be the meeting with Scotland, while the Russians will be in battle against Poland. Both duels figure as semi-finals in a three-part pool system, and they settle over one act the new knockout format.
The latter showdown was to be settled in Russia according to normal procedure, as the Russians were among the seeded teams.
Now the race instead seems to have to be settled on neutral ground. The matches will continue to be played on March 24.
The war in Ukraine has already had consequences for the country’s best football league, which has been suspended indefinitely.