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UEFA strips Russia’s Kazan of right to host 2023 Super Cup match, moves it to Athens

The relevant decision was made during a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Switzerland’s Nyon earlier in the day

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. /TASS/. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decided on Wednesday to relocate the previously scheduled 2023 UEFA Super Cup match from the Russian city of Kazan to Athens in Greece, UEFA’s press-office said in a statement on Wednesday.

The relevant decision was made during a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Switzerland’s Nyon earlier in the day.

"The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the 2023 UEFA Super Cup from Kazan, Russia, to Athens, Greece," the statement reads. "The game will be played at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in the Greek capital on Wednesday 16 August at 21:00 CET (22:00 local time)."

In 2019, the Russian Football Union (RFU) proposed Kazan as a venue to host the UEFA Super Cup either in the year 2022 or 2023.

On March 2, 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee agreed at its session in Amsterdam to award the Russian city of Kazan the right to host the 2023 UEFA Super Cup match.

UEFA Super Cup

The UEFA Super Cup is an official event which precedes the opening of the European football tournament. The Super Cup is an annual football match between the winning clubs of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The Stade Louis II Arena in Monaco was the permanent venue for the annual UEFA Super Cup match from 1998 and 2012.

In 2012, UEFA ruled against holding Super Cups at the permanent venue, i.e. at the Stade Louis II Arena in Monaco, and based on filed applications, the organization started searching for new venues to host the landmark football tournament. Since 2013, the UEFA Super Cup match has been played at stadiums across Europe. Russia has never hosted it.

Russia’s international football ban

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The Union of European Football Associations and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) barred Russian clubs and teams on February 28, 2022, from participating in international competitions due to the situation around Ukraine.

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