Russia stripped off Champions League final

UEFA has moved the Champions League final on May 28 to Paris from St Petersburg, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The UEFA executive committee held an emergency meeting on Friday and decided to move the showpiece to the Stade de France from the 68,000-capacity Gazprom Arena in Vladimir Putin’s home city.

A UEFA statement said: “The UEFA Executive Committee today held an extraordinary meeting following the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe.

“The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021/22 UEFA Men’s Champions League 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.

“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.”

The executive committee also decided 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.

This is set to affect Spartak Moscow in the Europa League and also Russia and Ukraine in the 2022-23 Nations League which is due to get under way in June.