Uefa is ready to drop St Petersburg as the venue for this year’s Champions League final, but has yet to take a decision, as the military crisis in Ukraine deepens.
The final of Europe’s most prestigious club competition is due to be played in Russia’s second-largest city on 28 May but Uefa finds itself under increasing pressure to move the venue after Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, announced a decision to send troops into Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Officials, including Uefa’s president, Alexander Ceferin, were in discussions over the location of the match on Tuesday. The Champions League final has been moved, because of Covid, in both of the past two seasons.
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“Uefa is constantly and closely monitoring the situation and any decision would be made in due course if necessary,” the governing body said in a statement, updated to include the possibility of a relocation. “Uefa has no further comments to make at present.”
Any decision is likely to follow political direction from inside Europe. Ceferin has built close ties within the EU during the recent European Super League affair and a common move towards a ‘European Sport Model’ of governance. On Tuesday the EU and member states began detailing responses to the Russia’s announcements, with the most prominent act a decision by the German government to delay certification of the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline project.
The British government has spoken out, expressing opposition to the final going ahead in St Petersburg. Boris Johnson said there should be “no chance of holding football tournaments in a Russia that invades sovereign countries”.
A government spokesperson reinforced this view, saying: “We have serious concerns about the hosting of international sporting events in Russia, such as the Champions League final, and will discuss these with the relevant governing bodies. We will not allow president Putin to exploit sporting and cultural events on the world stage to legitimise his renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
Although Russian clubs are not a significant player on the pitch, with only Zenit St Petersburg and Spartak Moscow remaining in European competition this season, the country’s financial clout is significant.
The Russian gas company Gazprom is at the heart of European football and has longstanding commercial arrangements with Uefa. Last summer it announced an expansion of its sponsorship arrangement with Uefa to include the European Championship as well as the Champions and Europa Leagues. It holds the naming rights for the stadium at which the final is due to be played, the Gazprom Arena, and Nordstream 2 is wholly owned by Gazprom.
Meanwhile the Polish football association said it had been in contact with Fifa to “urgently clarify the issues” around the World Cup qualifier they are due to play in Moscow next month. Poland have been drawn against Russia in the semi-finals of the World Cup play-offs, a one-off match which gave Russia home advantage as a seeded team.
In a statement, the Polish FA expressed doubts over the safety of playing in Moscow, owing to “potential threats related to the current situation” and their responsibility “to provide Polish footballers with optimal conditions for preparation and performances in international matches”.
Poland said their concerns extended to the safety of whoever would face Russia in the play-off final, should Russia win, which would be Sweden or the Czech Republic.
