Zurich: European football body UEFA on Thursday confirmed that the Champions League final between Manchester City FC and Chelsea FC will be held at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto on May 29.
The final was originally scheduled to take place at the Ataturk 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.
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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.
The Portuguese authorities and the FPF stepped in and worked quickly and seamlessly with UEFA to offer a fitting venue for the final and, as Portugal is a green list destination for England, fans and players attending the final will not have to quarantine on their return home.
The stadium capacity for the match will be finalised and confirmed in due course in cooperation with the Portuguese authorities and the FPF. However, fans of the competing teams will be able to buy tickets through the clubs in the usual way, with the 6,000 tickets per club going on sale as soon as possible from Thursday. Arrangements for the sale of tickets to the general public will start on May 24 at 1400 CEST.
The number of fans from each team who will be able to attend is the same as was planned in Istanbul.
Announcing the decision, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in an official release said: "I think we can all agree that we hope never to experience a year like the one we have just endured. Fans have had to suffer more than twelve months without the ability to see their teams live and reaching a Champions League final is the pinnacle of club football. To deprive those supporters of the chance to see the match in person was not an option and I am delighted that this compromise has been found."
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"After the year that fans have endured, it is not right that they don't have the chance to watch their teams in the biggest game of the season. 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 and the Portuguese Government for agreeing to stage the match at such short notice," he added.
