UEFA has acted swiftly in the wake of yesterday’s invasion of Ukraine by Russian Forces, announcing this morning that the Champions League Final due to be held in St Petersburg would be moved to the Stade de France in Paris on the same date of Saturday, 28th May.
In a statement issued after an extraordinary meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee they sai:
“UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis. Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement.”
“At today’s meeting, the UEFA Executive Committee also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA competitions will be required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.”
“The UEFA Executive Committee further determined to remain on standby to convene further extraordinary meetings, on a regular ongoing basis where required, to reassess the legal and factual situation as it evolves and adopt further decisions as necessary.”
Yesterday the FAI said that they would “continue to communicate on an ongoing basis with our Government, our colleagues at UEFA and the Ukraine Association of Football with regards to the latest developments and the implications for the Ukraine v Republic of Ireland fixture in the UEFA Nations League, currently fixed for Lviv on Tuesday, June 14th.”
“The FAI will also welcome Ukraine to Dublin on June 4th for the opening fixture in the UEFA Nations League campaign.”
In an obviously fast-moving situation where lives are on the line, sporting fixtures are down the list of priorities but this fast action and ongoing awareness is still important in giving a degree of greater certainty for those who will be affected outside of the war zone.
Our thoughts are with all those who are living through this.
