Ukraine | UEFA deprives Russia of the Champions League final

(Nyon) The sports world has in turn launched sanctions against Russia, after the military intervention in Ukraine, by withdrawing the organization of the prestigious soccer Champions League final from Saint Petersburg, relocated on Friday by the at the Stade de France, near Paris.

The response of the European soccer body was quick: meeting urgently in the executive committee by videoconference in Nyon (Switzerland), UEFA took action on a decision expected since the launch of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Thursday morning .

Scheduled in Saint Petersburg on May 28, the final of the biggest continental club competition will be played north of Paris, at the Stade de France, the same day, the European confederation announced in a press release, thanking President Emmanuel Macron “for his personal support” in a period of “unprecedented crisis”.

The Kremlin immediately reacted to this announcement, deeming it “a pity” that Russia was deprived of this event, assuring that “Saint Petersburg could have provided the ideal conditions for holding such a soccer festival”. The country’s second city had already hosted Euro matches last summer.

Spartak Moscow deprived of home game

The Stade de France, located in Saint-Denis, hosted this prestigious poster in 2006, then won by FC Barcelona against Arsenal, as well as in 2000, an edition which crowned Real Madrid. It will be the 6^and C1 final played in France.

UEFA, which had “strongly condemned the Russian military invasion” on Thursday, also decided that the international home matches of clubs or selections from Ukraine and Russia will be organized on neutral ground “until further notice in the face of “the worsening security situation in Europe”.

Thus, Spartak Moscow, engaged in the round of 16 of the Europa League – the second European competition – and the only Russian or Ukrainian team still in contention in the European Cup, will not be able to host its matches in Russia in the event.

Another meeting affected by this measure, the qualifying match of Euro-Espoirs, Ukraine-France, scheduled for Tuesday March 29, which will have to be relocated to neutral ground.

UEFA will “fully support the efforts of the many stakeholders to bring relief to footballers and their families in Ukraine”. Brazilian players from Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev called for help on social media on Thursday.

What about the Gazprom partner?

On the other hand, UEFA’s decisions do not concern the play-off for the 2022 World Cup between Russia and Poland scheduled for March 24 in Moscow, which depends on FIFA. The Polish federation, together with those of Sweden and the Czech Republic who may also have to face the Russians on March 29, have already warned that they do not wish to travel to Russia.

But FIFA has not yet taken the slightest measure, contenting itself on Thursday with saying that it is “concerned” in the face of a “tragic and worrying” situation, according to its president Gianni Infantino.

UEFA, one of the major sponsors of which is the giant Gazprom, has not mentioned anything about the agreement with the Russian group, reputed to be close to the Kremlin. The German club Schalke (D2), also linked to Gazprom, had decided on Thursday to remove the name of its main sponsor from its shirts.

These announcements come at the heart of a great mobilization of the world sports movement in the face of the deterioration of the situation in Ukraine.

Atalanta Bergamo’s Ukrainian international striker Ruslan Malinovskyi wore, after a goal, a t-shirt bearing the message in English: “No war in Ukraine”.

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev, who will become world No.1 on Monday, felt that “tennis is sometimes not so important” given the situation, acknowledging that he “woke up with a lot of emotions”.

The president of the French basketball club of Villeurbanne Tony Parker had also announced that his club would not travel to Russia to face Zenit Saint-Petersburg there on 1^er March, and Unics Kazan on March 3.

And the international ski federation canceled, on Friday, all the competitions planned in Russia by the end of winter.