MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decided to relocate the venue of the 2022 Champions League final match in May from Russia’s St. Petersburg to the French capital of Paris, the press office of the European governing football body announced in a statement on Friday.

"The UEFA Executive Committee today held an extraordinary meeting following the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe," the statement reads. "The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021/22 UEFA Men’s Champions League from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.

"The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET," according to UEFA.

"UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis," the statement continued.

"Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement," the statement added.

2021/2022 UEFA Champions League final in St. Petersburg

In August 2019, the European governing body of football 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 Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg hosted the opening and final matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and also served as one of 12 stadiums across the country hosting matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.