Kazan stripped of hosting UEFA soccer show

Article posted by Coliseum, February 3^rd, 2023

Image: SIS Pitches

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) stripped Russia of hosting rights recently for the season-opening Super Cup game in August because of the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

‘SPORTSTAR’ stated that the City of Kazan in Russia, which was a 2018 World Cup host, was due to stage the curtain-raising game between the winners of this season’s Champions League and Europa League.

It will now be played in Athens (capital of Greece) at the Georgios Karaiskakis Football Stadium – home of Olympiacos F.C. – on August 16^th, the UEFA said after an executive committee meeting held recently.

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Nyon (Switzerland)-based the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as Asian countries such as Israel, Cyprus and Armenia. The UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and the UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.

The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organized by the UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions – the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. The competition’s official name was originally the Super Competition, and later the European Super Cup.

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round-robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final.

The UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organized since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations for eligible European football clubs.

The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium, is a football stadium in Piraeus, Athens, Greece, and is the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos F.C. With a capacity of 32,115, it is the second largest only football stadium and the third largest football stadium overall in Greece.

The Olympiacos F.C., known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece. The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium serves as their home pitch.

‘SPORTSTAR’ further stated that the UEFA had not moved the Super Cup from Russia despite taking the 2022 Champions League Final from St. Petersburg within days of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine last February.

Russian teams have been banned from UEFA and FIFA competitions since February 28^th, 2022, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also advised sports governing bodies not to let Russia host events.

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