Champions League Finals Moved From Istanbul To Porto

UEFA announced on Thursday that the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea had been moved from Istanbul to Porto.

The match on May 29 has been switched to allow English spectators to attend as travel between the UK and Turkey is suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, European football’s governing body announced up to 6,000 supporters from each club will be able to attend.

“We accept that the decision of the British Government to place Turkey on the red list for travel was taken in good faith and in the best interests of protecting its citizens from the spread of the virus but it also presented us with a major challenge in staging a final featuring two English teams,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement.

The fixture was due to take place at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, but pressure mounted for the venue to be changed after the UK government placed Turkey on its ‘red‘ list of at-risk countries and urged fans not to travel for the fixture.

UK citizens returning from red-list countries are required to quarantine at a government-approved hotel for 10 days.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin added: “Once again we have turned to our friends in Portugal to help both Uefa and the Champions League and I am, as always, very grateful to the FPF (Portuguese football federation) and the Portuguese government for agreeing to stage the match at such short notice”.