UEFA have voted to move this season's Champions League final to Paris as a result of Russia making the decision to invade Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Zenit St. Petersburg's Gazprom Arena was scheduled to host the final on Saturday May 28, but the final will now take place at the Stade de France, following Russian president Vladimir Putin's decision to declare war on Ukraine.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, yesterday, scheduled an extraordinary meeting of the organisation's executive committee in response to Russia's decision, in a bid to source a new location for the final of this season's European premier club competition.
They decided that France's national stadium will host the final for the first time since Barcelona beat Arsenal 2-1 in 2006, although Wembley was touted as a possible answer. However, the Championship play-off final takes place on the same day.
A statement released by UEFA said: "The UEFA Executive Committee today held an extraordinary meeting following the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe.
"The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021/22 UEFA Men’s Champions League from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.
"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."
The UEFA executive committee also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA competitions will play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.
Four English clubs — including both Manchester City and Manchester United — are still alive and kicking in this season's competition and all avoided defeat in the first-leg of their round-of-16 ties, meaning they will fancy their chances of going the distance in this season's competition.
City already have a strong grip on a place in the quarter-finals after hammering Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away from home last week, while United will fancy their chances of progressing to the last-eight after securing a respectable 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium less than 48 hours ago.
