Yahoo Finance Champions League final moved to Porto with 6,000 fans per club for Chelsea FC vs Man City clash
The Champions League Final between Chelsea and Manchester City will be played in Porto’s Estádio do Dragão, with 6,000 fans from each club attending, UEFA has confirmed.
The European governing body this morning thanked the Football Association for their “exhaustive efforts” to host the match at Wembley but revealed it had not been possible to earn the necessary quarantine exemptions for sponsors, VIPs and broadcasters from the Government for an all-English final on home soil.
The May 29 showpiece, which will kick-off at 8pm, was originally scheduled for Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium but, following the government’s decision to place Turkey on the red list of Covid-19 overseas destinations, travelling fans would have been forced into an expensive quarantine after attending.
UEFA have maintained the planned Istanbul allocation of 6,000 tickets per club, which are expected to go on sale from today, with the overall capacity at the 50,033-seater venue expected to be around 20,000. Arrangements for the sale of the remaining tickets to the general public will start on May 24.
UEFA are facing frustration from fans over their pricing and allocation, with supporters groups concerned that sponsors and officials are being prioritised.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust were this morning hoping for a meeting with UEFA president Alexsander Ceferin later today to outline their concerns.
Speaking after confirmation of a second consecutive Champions League Final in Portugal, Ceferin said: “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.
“The difficulties of moving the final are great and the FA and the authorities made every effort to try to stage the match in England and I would like to thank them for their work in trying to make it happen.
“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.
“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.”
Istanbul was also supposed to host last season’s final, which was relocated to Lisbon, and UEFA said they would “urgently look into future opportunities” for the Turkish city.
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