Liz Truss tells English sides to boycott Champions League final in Russia

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has told English clubs to boycott the Champions League final in light of the escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

Truss backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s calls on Tuesday to change the location of the final from St Petersburg after Russia sparked international outcry by sending troops into the Donbas region of Ukraine.

All four Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea – are still in the prestigious European competition and could reach the final.

But the foreign secretary insists English teams should boycott the event if it goes ahead in Russia as planned.

Do you think English clubs should boycott the Champions League final in St Petersburg? Let us know in the comments section.

She said: “I think it is wrong at this stage with what Russia is doing internationally to have the final there.”

When asked whether England teams should play in the final, Truss added: “I would boycott it.

“I would personally not want to be playing in a football match in St Petersburg, given what the [Vladimir] Putin regime is doing.”

Meanwhile, Man United legend and staunch critic of the Tory government Gary Neville hit back at Truss over her comments.

Neville wrote on Twitter: “Maybe concentrate on the illicit funding your party has been receiving from Russians rather than English teams participating in football matches.”

Despite the uproar over a possible boycott, the situation between Russia and Ukraine is likely to result in the final being moved elsewhere.

UEFA are understood to be monitoring the situation closely, with the 2023 final in Istanbul potentially being moved forward in the case where players and fans are forced to boycott the event.

Man City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, who captained Ukraine at Euro 2020, has also hit back at Russia over the crisis.

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Zinchenko wrote on Instagram: “My country belongs to Ukrainians and no one will ever be able to appropriate it. We will not give it away.

“I can’t stand back and [not] put my point across. The whole civilised world is concerned about the situation in my country.

“The country in which I was born and raised and which the colours of I defend in the international sports arena. The country we are trying to glorify and develop.

“A country whose borders must remain intact.”

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