The Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City has officially been moved from Istanbul to Porto.
UEFA has confirmed the Estadio do Dragao will now host the all-English final on May 29 after Turkey was placed on the UK’s high-risk ‘red list’ for international travel.
There were efforts to move the match to Wembley, but the Football Association could not secure quarantine exemptions for thousands of sponsors set to attend.
While the final capacity in Portugal is set to be fixed, 6,000 tickets will be made available to both Chelsea and Man City fans.
European football’s governing body said in a statement: “The final was originally scheduled to take place at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul but, following the UK government’s decision to place Turkey on its red list of Covid-19 travel destinations, staging the final there would have meant none of the clubs’ domestic fans would be able to travel to the game.
“After a year of fans being locked out of stadiums, UEFA thought that everything needed to be done to ensure the supporters of the two finalist teams could attend.
“UEFA discussed moving the match to England but, despite exhaustive efforts on the part of the Football Association and the authorities, it was not possible to achieve the necessary exemptions from UK quarantine arrangements.”
Portugal is on the UK’s ‘green list’, meaning supporters will not need to quarantine upon return from May 17, although they will have to take a Covid PCR test within two days.
Source: TalkSport.com
