Champions League Final Istanbul, UEFA denies moving to Lisbon – Corriere.it

In England they are sure: the Champions League final will be played in Istanbul, wrote the Daily Mail. But from UEFA the denial was not long in coming: The final will take place in Istanbul as scheduled, on 10 June 2023. UEFA has no contrary discussions with political institutions, governments or national football federations. For the English media, however, there would have been contacts between UEFA and the Portuguese Federation to move the Champions League final on 10 June (the winner of Inter-Milan against the winner of Manchester City-Real Madrid) from Istanbul to Lisbon. As anticipated in recent weeks, there were rumors of a possible last act of the top continental competition in Lisbon, Portugal, amid fears of possible unrest in Istanbul, following the Turkish presidential election, given concerns over the prospect of civil unrest in the event that the 20-year reign of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were to end. In reality, it is a hypothesis that has been talked about for about a month.

In case there really was a change of plans, currently denied by UEFA, the Ataturk Olympic Stadium could be replaced for the third time as the venue for the Champions League final. In 2020, the outbreak of the Covid pandemic caused the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the tournament to be moved to Lisbon, Portugal. But the coronavirus imposed the relocation of the final also in 2021, given that Turkey was in the red zone for England and Manchester City and Chelsea had qualified: the match was still played in Portugal, in Porto. Finally, there are other precedents, not just Istanbul. Because even last year the final had to move from Russia to Paris, due to the invasion of Ukraine decided in February 2022 by Vladimir Putin.