The European football body will meet its executive committee on Friday at 10 a.m. to "take all the necessary decisions", it announced in a press release.

The emergency meeting comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday there was "no chance" Russia could host football tournaments in the coming weeks.

Russia, host country of the World Cup-2018, is to host the C1 final on May 28, in the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, already used in the summer of 2021 for Euro-2020, postponed for a year.

British Minister for Sport and Culture Nadine Dorries had already said on Twitter that she had "deep concerns" about the organization of sporting events in Russia, citing in particular the Champions League final.

“We will not allow President Putin to exploit events on the international scene to legitimize his illegal invasion of Ukraine,” she added, adding that she would meet with the “relevant governing bodies”.

UEFA has already had to relocate the last two Champions League finals, to Lisbon in 2020 then to Porto in 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic which prevented the match from being played in Istanbul, as originally planned these two years there.

On Wednesday evening, in the Champions League, the Ukrainian striker of Benfica Lisbon Roman Yaremchuk celebrated a goal by wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of the Ukrainian crest.

"I wanted to support my country. I thought a lot about it and I'm afraid of this situation," he told CNN Portugal.

© 2022 AFP