Mith the transfer of the Champions League final from St. Petersburg to Paris, UEFA has shown the expected rapid response to the Russian military attack on Ukraine. In a short press release, the European Football Union announced the decision of its executive committee on Friday after a crisis meeting called the day before. Instead of in the huge World Cup arena in St. Petersburg, the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the final of the premier class will now take place on May 28 (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League and on DAZN) in the Stade de France in front of the gates of the French capital.
Already on Thursday it was reported from UEFA circles that St. Petersburg will be stripped of the role of host for the most important club final of this season. However, a quick decision for a replacement location had not yet been expected. At the same time, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin was probably already talking to French President Emmanuel Macron about the Paris option.
In a statement on Friday, UEFA thanked Macron “for his personal support and commitment to bringing the most prestigious game in European club football to France at a time of unprecedented crisis.” The continental association said there would be no reactions from Ceferin or other senior UEFA officials on Friday.
The Kremlin regretted the postponement of the game. “Of course, it is a pity that this decision was made,” Russian President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to TASS agency. Several World Cup games took place in the Gazprom Arena on Krestovsky Island in 2018 and several European Championship games in 2021. In 2017, the German national team celebrated their last major international success there by winning the Confederation Cup.
UEFA has not yet announced how the Russian state-owned company Gazprom, as a major Champions League sponsor and financier of the EM 2024 in Germany, is to be dealt with. The UEFA committee around the top German official Rainer Koch decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs in the current European Cup competitions must host their home games on neutral ground. This also applies to the national teams of the two countries in the Nations League from this summer.
The upcoming playoffs in qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar in March, on the other hand, are FIFA competitions and are the responsibility of the world association, which did not follow up with any consequences after a meeting with President Gianni Infantino on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine are each still playing for a World Cup ticket in their groups of four. However, a direct duel is out of the question.
UEFA had already had to move the finals of the premier class to Lisbon in 2020 and to Porto in 2021 due to the corona pandemic. Istanbul, which was actually planned, is planned as the final venue in 2023, with London and Munich hosting in 2024 and 2025. In the current competition, FC Bayern Munich is the only remaining German representative in the current round of 16. The premier class winner was last crowned in the Stade de France in 2006. FC Barcelona defeated FC Arsenal 2-1.
