Following the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UEFA is expected to move the Champions League final out of St. Petersburg, Russia, according to multiple reports.
“UEFA shares the international community’s significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine,” UEFA said in a statement Thursday night.
“As the governing body of European football, UEFA is working tirelessly to develop and promote football according to common European values such as peace and respect for human rights, in the spirit of the Olympic Charter,” UEFA continued. “We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people. We are dealing with this situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency. Decisions will be taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and announced tomorrow.”
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has announced a meeting of the Executive Committee, expected for Friday morning, where they are expected to confirm moving the Champions League final. The game was originally scheduled to be played on May 28 at Gazprom Stadium in St. Petersburg.
German soccer club Schalke also announced that they will be removing their sponsor Gazprom — a Russian state-owned energy company — from the front of its jerseys.
“In view of the events, development and escalation of the past few days, FC Schalke 04 has decided to remove the lettering of its main sponsor — ‘GAZPROM’ — from the jerseys,” Schalke said in a statement.
“This step follows discussions with GAZPROM Germany,” the statement continued. “Instead, ‘Schalke 04’ will be on the chest of the Royal Blues.”
On Thursday, members of the European parliament called on UEFA to sever their relationship with Gazprom, which is also a sponsor of the Champions League.
“We call on you to stop considering Saint Petersburg and other Russian cities as venues for international football competitions and to choose as a first and very urgent step an alternative venue for the Champions League final on May 28, 2022,” the group of politicians said in a letter.
“In addition, we appeal to you to convene a special meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee, to terminate cooperation with Gazprom as UEFA sponsor and to consider sanctions against individual Russian officials who are complicit in the violation of international law,” they added.
Thursday morning, Putin announced a “special military operation” into Ukraine, with the aim of “demilitarizing” and “denazifying” the country.
President Biden condemned the invasion, saying that the “world will hold Russia accountable.”
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” Biden said in a statement. “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
“I will be monitoring the situation from the White House this evening and will continue to get regular updates from my national security team,” Biden continued. “Tomorrow, I will meet with my G7 counterparts in the morning and then speak to the American people to announce the further consequences the United States and our Allies and partners will impose on Russia for this needless act of aggression against Ukraine and global peace and security.”
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].