Uefa moves to end Gazprom deal and strips Russia of Champions League final

Uefa is in discussions with its lawyers over ending the governing body’s longstanding relationship with Gazprom, after confirming that this season’s men’s Champions League final has been moved from St Petersburg to Paris.

On a day when European football began to take firm action after the invasion of Ukraine, with Manchester United ending their sponsorship deal with Aeroflot and Russian teams forced to play matches at neutral venues, Russian authorities claimed Uefa was playing politics with sport.

Uefa’s showpiece fixture will be held at the Stade de France on 28 May, with the governing body thanking Emmanuel Macron for his role in facilitating the change.

“Uefa wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic president Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis,” a statement said.

“Together with the French government, Uefa will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement.”

The Stade de France in Paris, pictured last March. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

In a further statement, Uefa confirmed there would be meetings of the ExCo soon “where additional matters will be addressed”. The Guardian understands this will include the relationship with Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, which has sponsored Uefa’s club competitions for more than a decade and is closely intertwined with football across Europe.

A second decision was taken to move the home fixtures of Ukrainian and Russian club and national teams in Uefa competitions to neutral venues. In effect this applies immediately only to Spartak Moscow, who play RB Leipzig the last 16 of the Europa League. Uefa’s international competition the Nations League is scheduled to resume in June, when Russia are set to host Iceland and Albania, and Ukraine are due to be at home to Armenia and the Republic of Ireland.

On Thursday the Ukrainian FA (UAF) had called for all Russian teams be excluded from Uefa competitions. Although Uefa stopped short of this, its decisions were strongly criticised by Alexander Dyukov, the head of the Russian Football Union (RFU), who sits on the Uefa ExCo and is chairman of the Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom Neft.

In a statement released via the RFU, Dyukov said: “We believe that the decision to move the venue of the Champions League final was dictated by political reasons. The RFU has always adhered to the principle of ‘sport is out of politics’, and thus cannot support this decision.

“The RFU also does not support the decision to transfer any matches involving Russian teams to neutral territory as it violates the sports principle and infringes on the interests of players, coaches and fans.”

Andrii Pavelko, the UAF president, was also present at the meeting, after which a statement said: “The Uefa executive committee further determined to remain on standby to convene further extraordinary meetings, on a regular ongoing basis where required, to reassess the legal and factual situation as it evolves and adopt further decisions as necessary.”

Russia and Ukraine are due to play in World Cup play-offs next month in fixtures that fall under Fifa’s jurisdiction.

A United spokesperson said of the move to end ties with Aeroflot, the club’s official carrier: “In light of events in Ukraine, we have withdrawn Aeroflot’s sponsorship rights. We share the concerns of our fans around the world and extend our sympathies to those affected.”

The decision ends a nine-year association between United and Russia’s largest airline. The contract was was due to expire next year, having been renewed in 2017.

The UK government responded positively to Uefa’s actions. The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, welcomed the move and the sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, said other sporting bodies should follow Uefa’s lead.

“I appreciate that a lot of people are uncomfortable mixing sport and ‘politics’ but the situation in Ukraine is way beyond ‘politics’,” Huddleston said. “I welcome the leadership shown by Uefa and I urge other governing bodies due to host international sporting events in Russia this year to follow suit.”

Source: The Guardian