Champions League final: Should Uefa be more flexible about host cities for environmental reasons?

Uefa, UK government officials and the Football Association met to talk about Wembley hosting this season’s final but it was Covid considerations that were at the forefront of those talks, rather than climate concerns.

Porto was eventually chosen to stage the match as no agreement could be reached on quarantine exemptions for sponsors, VIPs and broadcasters.

“This is a step in the wrong direction,” said Elliot Arthur-Worsop, founder of Football For Future, an organisation aiming to promote sustainability through football. “It’s a brilliant opportunity to localise this match. If this Champions League final in Istanbul didn’t make sense from a Covid, fan or environmental point of view, then what is the motive for holding it in Porto?

“When two teams are set to play on the other side of the continent, this would set an important precedent for what we need to see from the authorities.

“When the argument was being made to move it to England and the venues are there, the fans are there, the willingness is there, the operational logistics are there and the teams are there and then they move it to Portugal instead, that tells me that money is the driving factor.

“That’s upsetting from a football fan point of view – after the European Super League announcement, Uefa was the first to criticise the breakaway as a move which came from financial greed. It doesn’t take a climate scientist to see that the decision to move the Champions League final to Porto is one being made with the same motive.

“If football took this first bold step to factor the environment into hosting decisions, then other competitions, leagues and teams would follow and that’s what we need in this decade. Climate wasn’t on the football agenda a few years ago but now those two worlds are colliding and we need to make sure that happens in a way that respects the climate and respects football culture.”

Jen Beattie, Scotland and England defender, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “As players you’re consumed by your daily business but it’s time to open our eyes and play our part in tackling these issues.

“I’m curious as to why the final can’t happen in England to stop that foreign travel. Those are the decisions where the higher powers will hopefully make the right ones.”