(Football news) UEFA has announced that the 2022 Champions League final, which was set to be held in St. Petersburg will now take place at the Stade de France in Paris on May 28. A UEFA statement said: "The UEFA Executive Committee today held an extraordinary meeting following the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe. 

"The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021/22 UEFA Men's Champions League from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.

"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. 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 UEFA executive committee has also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs as well as national teams that are competing in UEFA tournaments will be required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice. This means Spartak Moscow, Russia and Ukraine will be unable to play their upcoming fixtures in the Europa League and the UEFA Nations League at their home stadiums.

FIFA is yet to announce their decision regarding the upcoming World Cup play-off matches. Russia is scheduled to play against Poland on March 24th in a play-off semi final and the winner will take on one of Sweden or Czech Republic from the other semi-final. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has reiterated that his organisation is looking into the matter with absolute urgency and expressed his hopes that the situation would be resolved in a month. 

More to follow as the story progresses.

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