BEVERLY HILLS, May 13, (THEWILL) – After much ado over the host city for the UEFA Champions League final for the 2020/2021 season, the Union of European Football Associations has settled for the Porto stadium. Therefore, the Estadio Do Dragao will host the Champions League final on May 29, between the English Premier League finalists Manchester United and Chelsea.
THEWILL recalls that, as part of the arrangements to find a replacement venue, UEFA held crunch talks with the government of the United Kingdom on Monday over potentially moving the Champions League final to Wembley Stadium after the Turkey was added to the UK’s “red list” for COVID-19 travel restrictions.
As reported by THEWILL, Turkeys inclusion in the “red list” immediately cast doubts over the final match venue of Istanbul and left the EPL finalists worrying about regulations and restrictions that could affect flying to Istanbul for the final on May 29 and returning home with only enough time for some of their players to join their national sides for the Euros.
It is another sad chapter of the story for Istanbul as the Turkish city had been slated to host the 2020 final, before the coronavirus pandemic led to the closing stages of the tournament being moved to Lisbon and played as one-off matches in August last year, when football resumed post-lockdown.
Once again, the city loses out with rising COVID-19 cases in Istanbul that forced UEFA to turn to Portugal after talks with the UK were not to the Union’s favour.
It has now confirmed that Porto’s stadium will be the be host venue for the meeting between newly-crowned English champions City and FA Cup finalists Chelsea, who are in the European showpiece for a third time.
UEFA notes how badly Turkish organisers will take the development and has already outlined a new schedule which would see Istanbul given the chance to hold the final in 2023, and Munich, original 2023 hosts, would be kicked back to 2025, with St Petersburg keeping 2022 and Wembley hosting in 2024.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
