This season’s UEFA Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City on 29 May will be staged in Istanbul despite the extremely high rates of coronavirus infections in Turkey.
The venue for this year’s final came under scrutiny as politicians and health experts have called for the all-English final to be moved to the UK on safety grounds.
Sportsmail, revealed that flights from Stansted to Istanbul Sabiha have also tripled in price for the weekend of the final as fans rush to secure a ticket.
It has also been pointed out that unlike usual leisure travel, fans will feel huge pressure to attend the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity, even if they will struggle to self-isolate on their return.
This week UEFA said it expects to announce ‘detailed information regarding the capacity for the match, travel and ticketing details… by the end of the week’. And sources suggest that is still the intention.
Reports hinted that the match will go on in Turkey and over 12,000 fans from three English clubs will have access to tickets.
The All-English final will be the second in three seasons since Liverpool won their sixth European title at the expense of Premier League rivals, Tottenham in 2019.
