Uefa Moves Champions League Final To Portugal
UEFA has confirmed that the Champions League final – which will take place on 29th May between Premier League pair Manchester City and Chelsea – will be moved from Istanbul to Portuguese city Porto.
The match was originally scheduled to take place in the Turkish city, but following the UK government’s move to put the country on its red list of COVID-19 travel destinations, UEFA has moved the match to ‘ensure the supporters of the two finalist teams could attend’.
The governing body for football in Europe confirmed that it has ‘discussed’ moving the match to England but, ‘despite exhaustive efforts’ from the FA and UK authorities, it was ‘not possible to achieve the necessary exemptions from UK quarantine arrangements’.
Portugal, meanwhile, is a UK green-list destination, which will ensure that players, fans and delegates do not have to quarantine when returning after the match.
UEFA says the stadium capacity will be confirmed at a later date, but both clubs will be given an allocation of 6,000 tickets each, which will go on sale from 13th May. Tickets will also be sold to the general public from 24th May 2021, according to the organisation.
“Fans have had to suffer more than twelve months without the ability to see their teams live and reaching a Champions League final is the pinnacle of club football,” said Aleksander Ceferin, President, UEFA.
“To deprive those supporters of the chance to see the match in person was not an option and I am delighted that this compromise has been found.
“Once again we have turned to our friends in Portugal to help both UEFA and the Champions League and I am, as always, very grateful to the FPF and the Portuguese Government for agreeing to stage the match at such short notice.
“They have worked tirelessly in very tight time constraints in finding solutions for the many challenges that hosting a game of this magnitude presents. Whenever there has been an obstacle, they have been creative in the solutions presented and the success of staging this year’s final is entirely down to their hard work and persistence.
“We accept that the decision of the British Government to place Turkey on the red list for travel was taken in good faith and in the best interests of protecting its citizens from the spread of the virus but it also presented us with a major challenge in staging a final featuring two English teams.
“The difficulties of moving the final are great and the FA and the authorities made every effort to try to stage the match in England and I would like to thank them for their work in trying to make it happen.
“The Turkish football federation and the Turkish authorities have recognised the UEFA’s efforts to give fans of the competing clubs a chance to watch the game. The Turkish Football Federation and the authorities have always been reliable partners of UEFA and Turkey has hosted many UEFA events over the years with great success. I hope to be in Istanbul and Turkey for a Champions League final and many other events in the near future.
“I hope the final will be a symbol of hope at the re-emergence of Europe from a difficult period and that the fans who travel to the game will once again be able to lend their voices to showcase this final as the best in club football.”
