Manchester City are set to play Inter Milan in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final in June.
City knocked out Real Madrid thanks to a historic 4-0 second-leg thumping at the Eithad Stadium in the semi-finals and are favourites to take the title.
The Italian side qualified for their first final in the competition since 2010, when they won the prize under the management of Jose Mourinho.
The Sporting News looks at why there has been talk of a venue change for the Champions League final.
Where is the Champions League final?
The 2023 Champions League final was initially meant to be played at Wembley Stadium in England, but COVID-related problems caused a reshuffle.
The final will now be played at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. The 2021 final was scheduled to take place at this stadium, but was moved to Porto two weeks before the match due to coronavirus-related issues in the European city.
This is the second time the Champions League final will be played at this venue. The first occasion was in 2005 when Liverpool completed a miraculous comeback from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties.
Will they move the Champions League final 2023 from Istanbul?
There has been talk of the a venue change for the Champions League final due to political unrest in Istanbul. This is because of the presidential election that is set to take place on May 14, 2023.
UEFA released a statement on the matter which said:
"UEFA would like to clarify the position on the 2023 Champions League final. The 2023 UEFA Champions League final will take place in Istanbul as scheduled, on 10 June 2023. UEFA has no discussions to the contrary with any political institutions, governments or national football associations."
It seems like the governing body do not want to replace Istanbul as the host city again as it would cause further disruption to the schedules in the coming years.
When is the UEFA Champions League final 2023?
The 2023 UEFA Champions League final is scheduled to be held on Saturday, June 10.
UEFA confirmed that the match will kick off at 10 p.m. local time in Istanbul, which is 8 p.m. BST in the UK, 3 p.m. ET in the USA and Canada, and 5 a.m. AEST in Australia.
| Country | Date | Projected Time |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Sun, June 11 | 5 a.m. AEST |
| Canada | Sat, June 10 | 3 p.m. EDT |
| Hong Kong | Sun, June 11 | 3 a.m. HKT |
| India | Sun, June 11 | 12:30 a.m. IST |
| Malaysia | Sun, June 11 | 3 a.m. MYT |
| New Zealand | Sun, June 11 | 7 a.m. NZST |
| Singapore | Sun, June 11 | 3 a.m. SST |
| UK | Sat, June 10 | 8 p.m. BST |
| USA | Sat, June 10 | 3 p.m. EDT |