Russia lose Champions League final as Putin invades Ukraine with new venue named
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The 2022 Champions League final will no longer take place in Russia in light of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
UEFA made the decision to strip the nation of the match following an emergency executive committee meeting on Friday.
The showpiece event was set to take place in the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg on May 28, but will now be moved elsewhere, with both Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United offering to assume hosting duties.
The showpiece will now take place in the French capital of Paris with the Stade de France playing host.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called the meeting in order to "evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions" and board members eventually decided that the final simply couldn't be staged in a country which had invaded another European nation.
It comes after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss urged UEFA to change the venue in response to Russia's aggression.
"A Russia that has pariah status – [there is] no chance of holding football tournaments in a Russia that invades sovereign countries," the PM said on Wednesday, while Truss urged Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to boycott playing matches in Russia altogether.
"I would boycott it. I would personally not want to be playing in a football match in St Petersburg, given what the Putin regime is doing," she said.
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The London Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium had offered UEFA their 60k-plus capacity venues.
They also suited UEFA's other main criteria which are being in a major European city with good transport links, infrastructure and accommodation.
Wembley Stadium, which is set to host the 2024 final, was also being considered, though the switch seemed logistically unlikely due to a number of EFL play-off matches being scheduled there on the same weekend.
- Champions League
- Vladimir Putin
- Russia
- Ukraine
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