CL final now unlikely to be switched to Wembley

HOPES of the Champions

League final being staged at Wembley appear to have receded.

UEFA representatives met virtually with Government officials from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) yesterday morning to discuss moving the all-English final to Wembley from Istanbul, after the Government’s decision on Friday to place Turkey on its high-risk ‘red list’ for international travel.

Government sources described the meeting as cordial and helpful and stated that the ball remains in UEFA’s court.

However, some of the assurances UEFA is looking for particularly around quarantinefree travel for sponsors and other VIPs coming into the UK are not straightforward for the Government to deal with at a time when border controls remain necessarily so strict amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Discussions between the Government and UEFA are ongoing, but one other option under consideration could be moving the match to

Portugal.

The country hosted the final stages of last season’s Champions League last August, and is on the British Government’s ‘green list’ for international travel.

This would mean players, staff and supporters of Chelsea and Manchester City could return to the UK without needing to quarantine.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday that supporters of Chelsea and Manchester City should not travel to Turkey for the match on May 29, but added that the Government was ‘very open’ to staging it here.

Turkey was placed on the Government’s ‘red list’ after a rise in coronavirus infections in the country.

It is understood UEFA was given notice of the Government’s intention to make this move well ahead of it being publicly confirmed on Friday evening.

Relations between the two are strong after UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin recognised the key role played by the Government in putting pressure on the clubs who threatened to form a breakaway European Super League.