Russia-Ukraine Heats Up, UEFA Officially Moves Champions League Final To Paris

Illustration UEFA 9Uefa.com)

JAKARTA - UEFA has officially appointed Paris as the host of this season's Champions League final. The Stade de France Stadium in Saint-Denis will be the main venue for the final which will take place on 28 May.

The UEFA Executive Committee made the decision as a result of an emergency meeting held on Friday, February 25 in the afternoon Indonesian Western Time (WIB). This step was taken by UEFA in response to the security situation in Europe following the move by Russia which launched an invasion of Ukraine since last Thursday

The 2021/2022 Champions League Final was originally scheduled to be held at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia. However, based on a recent decision, UEFA shifted him to the Stade de France in Saint-Denis not far from Paris, France.

"UEFA would like to thank French President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to supporting the transfer of Europe's most prestigious club football game to France in this crisis situation," UEFA said in a statement.

The 2021/22 #UCLfinal will move from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.

Full statement ⬇️

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 25, 2022

In addition to moving the venue for the Champions League final, UEFA has also decided for Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams to hold UEFA competition matches at neutral venues until further announcements.

The decision to move the location of the Champions League final is not the only time. Remembering something similar had happened right last season.

The Champions League final, which was supposed to be held in Istanbul, shifted to Porto just three weeks before kick off. This was forced to be done after the Turkish capital was included in the COVID-19 red list which made the entire agenda that involved many people had to be stopped in order to suppress transmission.