FINAL MUST GO TO WEMBLEY: NEIL SQUIRES
If Real Madrid took on Atletico Madrid in a Champions League final in the middle of a pandemic, it would be a smart move to stage the game in Spain. If Bayern Munich played Borussia Dortmund, Germany would be the logical fit. So now Manchester City and Chelsea have turned Europe into a glorified Premier League rather than a calcified Super League, the final should be moved to England.
This isn’t petty nationalism at play, just a straightforward way of minimising travel as per Covid directives.
Istanbul would be an ideal venue if Besiktas were playing Fenerbahce. They’re not, though, so why move thousands of people in and out of a country in lockdown after a spike in infections when there is no need to? Staycations are de rigueur, after all. UEFA are currently banking on a crowd of 25,000 for the Istanbul final, of which 9,000 would be made up of travelling Chelsea and Manchester City supporters – assuming the ban on foreign travel is lifted by the government on May 17.
In normal times it would be a great trip to a wonderful, intoxicating city with a half-decent game thrown in too. But, for all the outlook has thankfully changed for the better here, these still aren’t normal times.
If Turkey is flagged as ‘amber’ in the Government’s new traffic light travel system, it will mean 10 days of home quarantine for returning fans. A ‘red’ flag would mean an expensive lockdown hotel.
If UEFA care about the supporters – and about being good global citizens – then they should switch the Champions League final to Wembley.
The date clash on Saturday, May 29 with the Championship play-off final could easily be resolved by switching The Billion Pound Game – or however much it is being billed as this season – to the night before instead.
At a time when other businesses are surviving – and some even thriving – through their flexibility, UEFA need to think out of the box.
Wembley has demonstrated its ability to handle these occasions in coronavirus times.
The Carabao Cup final pilot last month held in front of a crowd of 8,000 passed off very smoothly. Lateral flow test, show negative result, enter ground. Simple.
That experiment will be extended for the FA Cup final a week tomorrow, when there will be an attendance of 21,000, with 12,500 drawn from the finalists Leicester and Chelsea.
A relocated Champions League final would work in everyone’s best interests – even Turkey. The Turks have endured a rough deal with
their final, which was shifted to Lisbon last year, and do not want a repeat. But surely it would be better for Istanbul to host when Covid is under control and a capacity crowd can be guaranteed? Wembley is supposed to have the 2024 final – Istanbul could take that slot instead. Or UEFA could shuffle the order which has St Petersburg and Munich hosting the next two finals. Either way, in these of all times, it makes no sense for two English teams and their fans to embark on a long trip when UEFA could play Europe’s big final in our own backyard.