Uefa to discuss moving Champions League final from Russia

SourceBBC

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Uefa will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss whether it should move the 2022 Champions League final away from Russian city of St Petersburg.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday.

The EU Parliament wants European football’s governing body Uefa, to move the match from the Gazprom Arena, which is set to host the match on 28 May.

World football’s governing body Fifa is to meet on Thursday.

World Cup play-offs are scheduled to take place next month with Russia set to play Poland on 24 March, while Scotland host Ukraine on the same day.

Ukraine’s domestic football league was set to resume this weekend after a winter break but that will remain suspended. Fifteen of the most recent 23-man Ukraine squad play in their homeland.

Sweden are also in the play-offs and would meet Russia for a place at the World Cup finals, which get underway in Qatar in December if both win their semi-finals.

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But Karl-Erik Nilsson, the chairman of the Swedish Football Association, told Reuters a match in Russia was “almost unthinkable” at the moment.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned the Russian government for breaking the Olympic Truce.

In a statement, the IOC said: “The Olympic Truce began seven days before the start of the Olympic Games, on 4 February 2022, and ends seven days after the closing of the Paralympic Games.

Meanwhile, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has said it is “monitoring the escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict” and the safety of participants at their World Cup competitions in Russia this weekend.

Formula 1 says it is “closely watching the fluid developments”, with the Russian Grand Prix set to take place in Sochi in September.