UEFA to hold emergency meeting, could move Champions League final from Russia

UEFA will hold an emergency meeting on Friday with this season's Champions League final in Saint Petersburg set to be at the top of the agenda as European football's governing body said it "strongly condemns" Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.

"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," it said in a statement on Thursday.

"We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people."

UEFA said an extraordinary meeting of its executive committee would be held on Friday at 0900 GMT and a decision is likely to be made on this season's Champions League final.

Former Shakhtar coach Paulo Fonseca and current coach Roberto De Zerbi, who are both in Ukraine, share their experiences of the Russian invasion. pic.twitter.com/0ifX6jt6hV

The showpiece game of European club football's premier competition is scheduled to be played on May 28 at the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, which already hosted several matches at last year's European Championship and at the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.

"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 added on Thursday.

European football's governing body also has a major sponsorship deal with Gazprom, the Russian state energy giant.

On Thursday the German club Schalke 04 said it would remove the logo of Gazprom, its main sponsor, from the team's shirts.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed on Tuesday that Russia had "no chance" of holding European football's showpiece