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UEFA unveils official match ball for 2022 Champions League final in St. Petersburg

Its design was inspired by the summer 'white nights' in Saint Petersburg

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. An official match ball for the 2022 UEFA Champions League final match in Russia’s second largest city of Saint Petersburg next May was unveiled on Monday, the press office of the Union of European Football Federations (UEFA) announced in a statement.

"Adidas has unveiled the official match ball for the knockout phase of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League, with the design inspired by the summer 'white nights' in the final venue, Saint Petersburg," the European governing body of football said in its statement earlier in the day.

"Between May and July, the sun does not set in Russia's 'northern capital', but if the stars will be invisible on 28 May - the night of the final at the Gazprom Arena - they will be all over the pitch as two sides compete to win the biggest prize in world club football," according to the UEFA.

"The new ball will be used for the remainder of the UEFA Champions League campaign, and features a thermally-bonded construction, solid PU surface material, a rhombus carcass and a high-grade butyl bladder," the statement added.

In August 2019, the European governing body of football, UEFA, announced the selection of Russia’s St. Petersburg as the venue for the final of the 2021 Champions League at the recently-built football stadium.

However, the date was moved to 2022 due to safety reasons amid the global spread of the novel coronavirus and the match is now slated for May 28, 2022.

The newly-built football arena in St. Petersburg hosted the opening and final matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and also served as one of the 12 stadiums across the country hosting matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The over 62,300-seat capacity stadium was laid down in the western part of Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg in 2007 and commissioned in early 2017. It serves as the home stadium for Zenit St. Petersburg football club.

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