MADRID: Madrid’s mayor has said Spanish capital is in talks about hosting this year’s Champions League final if organisers decide to move it from Istanbul due to the coronavirus crisis. European football’s biggest game was scheduled to be played at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium on May 30 until the competition was postponed due to the pandemic in March with only half of the last 16 completed.
The final last season between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur was held at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano while Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu hosted the 2010 decider between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.“I know arrangements are being made, and I want to declare the city hall’s absolute support for this Champions League final being held in Madrid,” Tuesday’s Marca newspaper quoted the city’s mayor Jose Luis Martinez as telling Spanish television channel Trece.
No official announcement has been made about whether the re-arranged final will take place in Istanbul. A New York Times report last month said the showpiece event will not be held in the Turkish city and alternative venues were being considered.UEFA, which declined to comment on Almeida’s remarks, said that a working group had been set up and “a variety of options” were being looked at, adding that an Executive Committee meeting on June 17 would provide more clarity.
The final is likely to be held without spectators, as has been the case in the major European leagues such as the Bundesliga, which returned last month, and Spain’s La Liga.The country hosting the final is also expected to stage the quarter-finals and semi-finals.German city Frankfurt and Portuguese capital Lisbon are also likely contenders to host the final.Spain has been able to bring coronavirus under control in recent weeks and Madrid moved into phase two, the penultimate stage of the government’s de-escalation programme, on Monday.But overall there have been more than 27,000 deaths caused by coronavirus in the country.“I think hosting an international event like the Champions League final is very important but especially in these circumstances,” Almeida added.
“What it would demonstrate is Madrid’s ability to recover in a very short time from the dramatic situation we have been through.” Almeida added that “adequate security conditions exist, we have the infrastructures and public services to host it and it would send a message to the world that Madrid, despite what we have experienced, does not give up and is back.”
