UEFA have confirmed that the 2020-21 Champions League Final has been moved from Istanbul to Porto, following a rise in Coronavirus cases in Turkey.
The showpiece event between Manchester City and Chelsea was originally meant to take place at the Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul, yet the addition of Turkey to UK’s red travel list would of meant fans being unable to attend the Final.
UEFA proceeded to explore the possibility of moving the Final to Wembley Stadium, London, only for the UK Government to block a request for quarantine exemptions for employees, international sponsors, media and VIP guests plus a 20k attendance.
Negotiations also took place with Portuguese authorities concerning hosting the Final in Lisbon, before the final decision was made that Porto’s Estadio do Dragao would instead host the Final with 20K spectators set to be in attendance in total.
Apart from the venue change, there are no further alterations with the Final set to kick off 8pm local time (8pm UK Time) on Saturday 29 May 2021.
Man City and Chelsea are both set to be handed a 6,000 ticket allocation, which is in line with original set of tickets that would been made available to club supporters if Istanbul had hosted the match.
Ticket sales for general public will be released on 24 May at 2:00pm CET.
Speaking on the decision to move the Champions League Final to Portugal, UEFA President, Aleksandr Ceferin admitted that depriving supporters of both clubs of the chance to attend the game “was not an option” on the table.
Ceferin also acknowledged the pain that many fans have endured across the last 14 months in not attending matches due to pandemic restrictions.
Explaining why having fans in attendance for the Final was important, Ceferin said; “After the year that fans have endured, it is not right that they don’t have the chance to watch their teams in the biggest game of the season.”
Ceferin also paid on record the thanks of UEFA and Champions League to the Portuguese Football Federation and Government for agreeing to hosting this event at little notice.
UEFA also confirmed that the British Government’s decision to red list Turkey was “… 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.”
Acknowledging the English Football Association’s effort to try and ensure the match was hosted in England to little avail, Ceferin thanked them for their effort in attempting to make it happen.
Ceferin also recognised the work that Turkish authorities and Football Federation have put in to try and ensure that they hosted the event almost a year on from their initial date until the pandemic again eventually overtook their efforts to get the match on.
Looking ahead to the Final, Ceferin spoke of his wish that the showpiece event is looked upon as “a symbol of hope at the re-emergence of Europe from a difficult period…” with travelling fans lending their voices to make the contest the best in club competition.
There is no complications for the 2020-21 Europa League Final between Manchester United and Villarreal, which will be held on Wednesday 26 May (8pm UK Time) in Gdansk, Poland as originally planned.
Leave a Reply