Russia has been stripped of championship final plus Formula one etc

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

The 2022 Champions League final will be played in Paris after Russia was stripped of the match following the nation's invasion of Ukraine.

The final of Europe's most prestigious club competition was due to be played in St Petersburg on 28 May.

Meanwhile, Russia's Formula 1 Grand Prix, due to take place in Sochi in September, has been cancelled.

F1 says it is "impossible" to hold the event in "the current circumstances".

International sports federations should move or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus, says the International Olympic Committee.

Manchester City's Ukraine defender Oleksandr Zinchenko joined a vigil in Manchester city centre to show support for his country and may face Everton at the weekend, while West Ham's Ukraine winger Andriy Yarmolenko has been given some time off by the club

Manchester United have terminated their sponsorship deal with Russia's national airline Aeroflot

Uefa is looking to end its major £30m-a-year sponsorship deal with Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom

Former heavyweight boxing champion and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said he was prepared to fight in a "bloody war" alongside his brother Wladimir Klitschko

Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev, soon to be the world's leading men's player, said hearing the news of his nation's invasion was "not easy" and wants to "promote peace all over the world"

Formula 1 team Haas have removed their Russian-based sponsor – a company owned by Dmitry Mazepin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin – from their equipment during the final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona. Mazepin's son, Nikita, is one of Haas' drivers

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has pleaded for help to "stop the war"

Short presentational grey line

'A time of unparalleled crisis' – Uefa

Uefa said the Champions League final would not be held at the Gazprom Arena and would move to the Stade de France in Paris instead.

Uefa thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for "his personal support and commitment" to have the game moved to France at "a time of unparalleled crisis".

It added: "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."