UEFA Champions League Final venues till 2025 announced; Istanbul compensated for 2021 move

European Football's governing body UEFA on Friday announced the venues for the next four Champions League finals which will be taking place from 2022-2025. The decision regarding the UEFA Final venues was taken by the Executive Committee in a meeting on Friday. According to the official tweet, St Petersburg, Istanbul, London and Munich have been chosen as the venues for hosting the next four finals. 

London, Allianz Arena to host finals UEFA Champions League Finals

While the 2022 edition will be played at St Petersburg in Russia, the 2023 UEFA Champions League finals will be hosted by  Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. The 2023 UEFA Champions League finals originally to be played in Munich will be moved to 2025. London, likely at Wembley, will retain the rights to stage the UEFA Champions League finals in 2024, making it somewhat of a European Final hotspot.

Dublin and Bilbao to host UEFA Europa League and UEFA Womens' Champions League finals

Following the withdrawal of hosting rights for UEFA EURO 2020 from two of the original hosts cities, the UEFA Executive Committee today approved a settlement agreement which includes the staging of future club competition finals, recognising the efforts and financial investment put by the two cities in preparing for the tournament. 

Consequently, Dublin will host the UEFA Europa League finals in 2024, whereas Bilbao will host the UEFA Women’s Champions League finals in 2024 and the UEFA Europa League finals in 2025. UEFA also revealed that the draws for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League will take place in Istanbul at the end of August both for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons.

Football Association of Ireland chief executive Jonathan Hill was overjoyed by UEFA's decision and said: “This is really positive news, not just for Dublin but for Ireland as we prepare to host such a major football event and showcase the Aviva Stadium and Irish hospitality to the world in 2024. We were all disappointed when the COVID-19 pandemic saw the four UEFA EURO 2020 games moved away from Dublin so this really is something to look forward to just three years from now. The 2024 UEFA Europa League final will be a landmark event with huge economic benefits for Dublin and for Ireland along with the boost it will give our game in the build-up to the final".

Credit: UEFA/ Twitter/ AP