Champions League final moved from Istanbul to Porto

UEFA has moved the Champions League final from Istanbul.

The new venue is at the Estádio do Dragão, the home of FC Porto in Portugal on 29 May.

“The final had been scheduled to take place at Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium 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 that none of the clubs' domestic fans would have been able to travel to the game,” UEFA said.

The decision is as a result of making fans to be available during the final game between Man City and Chelsea.

“After a year of fans being locked out of stadiums, UEFA felt that everything needed to be done to ensure the supporters of the finalist teams could attend.”

Both teams have played at the venue this season; Man Ciy played Porto during the Group stages of the competition before Chelsea secured a 2-0 win in the quarter-finals first leg to knock Porto out by 2-1 on aggregate.

“The decision does not come without big regret for the work that the Turkish football authorities have done over the past two years to ensure the successful staging of the final in Istanbul. UEFA is grateful for their continued partnership and cooperative spirit as well as the understanding they showed in this particular circumstance, and will urgently look into future opportunities for the city of Istanbul,” the statement added.

Both Chelsea and City will receive 6,000 tickets each.