“We are closely monitoring the situation”: UEFA has no plans to postpone the Champions League final from St. Petersburg

On Tuesday, two British publications The Mirror and The Daily Star reported that the Union of European Football Associations is considering moving the Champions League final from St. Petersburg to London.

The reason for doubts about the expediency of holding the main European Cup match in Russia is caused by the aggravation of relations with Ukraine and the recognition of the independence of the DNR and LNR.

As an alternative to the Gazprom Arena, Wembley Stadium is called.

At the same time, it is emphasized that hosting the match will bring the host city more than 60 million pounds. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson opposed holding the Champions League final and other football competitions in St. Petersburg. 

However, the organizers of the decisive match of the Champions League are calm about such statements.

As Aleksey Sorokin, the general director of the organizing committee of the final, noted, it is simply not worth paying attention to such news.

“We have been dealing with this for the last 15 years, since 2008, when something was allegedly taken from us.

UEFA is the largest international sports organization and operates outside the political context.

The Organizing Committee and UEFA have not had any discussions on this subject and cannot have any.

We are preparing for the final as planned.

We are waiting for the arrival of more than 50 thousand foreign fans, ”said the TASS specialist.

UEFA also confirmed Sorokin's words.

Evening Standard journalist Dan Kilpatrick tweeted an official statement from the organization: “We are constantly and closely monitoring the situation.

At the moment, there are no plans to change the venue for the final." 

I am sure that the decisive match of the Champions League will be held in St. Petersburg and the honorary president of the Russian Football Union Vyacheslav Koloskov.

“This is all again stupid stuffing of the European side.

I am one hundred percent sure that this is unconfirmed information and a simple shaking of the air.

We must believe only the official statements of UEFA - if they were considering this option, they would have already said so.

At the moment, there is no subject for postponing the final, well, they recognized the LNR and the DNR, and what's wrong with that?

A large-scale war has not begun, there are no threats to human life on the territory of Russia and, we hope, will not be.

So all this is nonsense and an attempt to develop a discussion about the problem that exists today.

Let's live in peace and prepare for the Champions League final in St. Petersburg, ”Sport24 quotes the official.

However, not all representatives of the football community are optimistic about the future.

Many still experience anxiety in connection with what is happening and do not exclude the option of transferring the match to Europe.

According to the former Zenit midfielder Vladislav Radimov, as the last Olympics in Beijing showed, politics is increasingly interfering with sports.

“Of course, I am against the postponement of the final.

At the moment I don't see any problems.

Another thing is that we are well aware of the current political situation.

And if any further sanctions are imposed against our country, then the decisive match of the Champions League may also fall under them.

God forbid that this does not happen.

However, a recent example at the Olympics with Kamila Valieva shows that sport is not always out of politics.

Therefore, it remains only to wait, hope and believe that the final will not be postponed, ”the RT specialist admitted.

At the same time, as the Zenit-2 coach noted, the city on the Neva deserves to be seen by thousands of foreign fans.

“We really have one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Especially in the summer.

And we have such an amazing stadium.

As a resident of St. Petersburg, I really want the final to be held here.

But for now, we can only guess,” Radimov said.

Famed coach Valery Nepomniachtchi also considers it possible to postpone the Champions League match.

In addition, he did not rule out the imposition of sanctions against Russian clubs.

“Politicians don't think about sports.

They just need to prove something again.

I do not rule out that now we will hear voices with a proposal to exclude Russia from the European competition.

There are all sorts of hotheads and it is not clear what decisions will be made, ”said the coach.

Meanwhile, in Poland, they opposed the holding of the 2022 World Cup play-off match with Poland, which is due to take place on March 24, in Moscow.

Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs Yaroslav Kachinsky proposed to boycott all competitions planned in Russia. 

The Polish Football Association, in turn, reported on social networks that, due to the tense political situation, he turned to FIFA with a request to clarify issues related to the Russia-Poland match.

Dmitry Svishchev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, called the information about the possible postponement a political action.

“We are much calmer than in Warsaw, and everyone understands this very well.

And from the point of view of the organization and security measures of competitions from Russia, we are probably the most organized country in this regard, ”Sport24 quotes Svishchev.