UEFA is making a big move in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to CBS Sports, the soccer league is making plans to move the Champion’s League final, which was originally set to take place in Saint Petersburg’s Krestovsky Stadium in Russia. On Thursday morning, Russia launched a military attack on neighbor Ukraine with missiles landing close to several major cities.ย
“Following the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine in the last 24 hours, the UEFA President has decided to call an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee for Friday 25 February at 10:00 CET, in order to evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions,” a statement read. “Further communication will be made after the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee.” ย
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The UEFA also issued a statementย that condemned Russia’s attack. “UEFA shares the international community’s significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine,” the statement read. “As the governing body of European football, UEFA is working tirelessly to develop and promote football according to common European values such as peace and respect for human rights, in the spirit of the Olympic Charter. We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people.”
The new location of the championship match won’t likely be announced until late in the tournament. The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on April 5 and April 6 and the second leg will play on April 12 and April 13. The semifinals will start on April 26. The teams who have made the Round of 16 are currently getting ready for the second leg of their matches which will take place this month.ย
“Based on the current alarming development in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine including the security situation the Football Associations of Poland (PZPN), Sweden (SvFF) and Czech Republic (FAR) express their firm position that the playoff matches to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scheduled for 24 and 29 March 2022, should not be played in the territory of the Russian Federation, a joint statement from the organizations said about Russia hosting qualifying matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. ย ย
“The signatories to this appeal do not consider traveling to Russia and playing football matches there. The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations. Therefore, we expect FIFA and UEFA to react immediately and to present alternative solutions regarding places where these approaching playoff matches could be played.” ย
