Ukraine conflict: Champions League final moved from Russia to Paris.
The 2022 Champions League final, originally scheduled to be held in the Gazprom Arena, St Petersburg in Russia has been moved to the Stade de France in Paris after Russia was stripped of the match’s hosting rights following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.
UEFA thanked the French President, Emmanuel Macron for his support to have the game moved to France, “under the current circumstances”.
It’s the third time running that the venue of the final has been moved; In 2020, From Istanbul to Lisbon; In 2021, From Istanbul to Porto; 2022, Russia to France. The decision to strip St Petersburg of the Final was not well met by Russia sports officials. Russian Football Union (RFU) president Alexander Dyukov, who’s also the chief executive of Gazprom subsidiary, Gazprom Neft said, “We believe the decision was dictated by political reasons. The RFU has always adhered to the principle of ‘sport is out of politics’,” he said.
“Russia must not be allowed to exploit sporting and cultural events on the world stage to legitimise its unprovoked, premeditated and needless attack against a sovereign democratic state”, UK Conservative MP, Dorries.
UEFA also ordered Russian and Ukrainian clubs to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice. Spartak Moscow are the only Russian team left in European competitions this season and have been drawn against German side RB Leipzig in the last 16 of the Europa League. https://www.uefa.com/
In it’s statement announcing it’s decisions, UEFA didn’t announce their relationship with Gazprom. Gazprom is one of UEFA’s major sponsors in a long-term deal worth about £30m, as well as holding the naming rights for St Petersburg’s 68,000-capacity stadium.
Gazprom is also the main sponsor of German club Schalke, who announced on Thursday the logo of the company would be removed from the club’s shirts and replaced with Schalke04.