UEFA Champions League Final Will Not Be Held In Russia

The Champions League final will be moved away from Russia, with the St Petersburg's Gazprom Arena originally set to host the final in May.

This year's final was originally going to be hosted in Russia but earlier this week it was reported that it may be moved, pending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday morning, Vladimir Putin officially declared war on his country's neighbours and now they will not be allowed to host Europe's showpiece event.

UEFA have announced that they will host an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee to discuss the matter but, according to the Associated Press, it will definitely be moved away from the Gazprom Arena.

"Following the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine in the last 24 hours," a statement read, "The UEFA President has decided to call an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee for Friday 25 February at 10:00 CET, in order to evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions.

"Further communication will be made after the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee."

The Gazprom Arena was due to host the final for the first time. Image: PA Images

England has been reported as a potential location when the final is moved, though early reports suggested UEFA would wait till closer to the game to pick a new venue, depending on who was left in the tournament.

Wembley is set to host EFL play-offs on the same weekend that this year's European Champions will be crowned, meaning those games having to be moves.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could be another potential venue but Spurs' home is also already currently in use that weekend.

Having previously hosted NFL and rugby union matches, the ground will be hosting rugby league's Challenge Cup final on May 28th.

Tottenham have previously hosted NFL but would need to move the rugby league. Image: PA Images

On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had called on English clubs to boycott the Champions League final if they reached the game.

Manchester City and Liverpool are amongst the favourites to win the competition, whilst Chelsea are the current holders, and all three will likely advance to the quarter finals, after good results this week.

Manchester United remain in the competition too, but their chances of winning have been dismissed a literally laughable, and their 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday means they still aren't guaranteed to go through.

Topics: UEFA, Champions League, Russia

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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