Champions League final will be moved from St Petersburg, Uefa to confirm on Friday

Uefa will announce on Friday that this season’s Champions League final will be moved from St Petersburg after calling an emergency meeting of its executive committee.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has made the situation around the final “impossible” according to sources close to the European governing body. Aleksander Ceferin, the Uefa president, has called an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee for tomorrow morning, at which a replacement venue is expected to be confirmed.

A Uefa statement said: “Following the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the Uefa president has decided to call an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee for Friday, February 25 in order to evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions.”

The invitation to the meeting has been sent to all members of the executive committee including Alexander Dyukov, the president of Zenit St Petersburg and the Russian Football Union, who also happens to be chief executive of Gazprom, the Russian energy giant which is one of Uefa’s main sponsors. It is understood Gazprom owes Uefa a significant amount in sponsorship money but that Uefa is prepared to take any decisions it deems necessary even if it threatens that income.

Several alternative options for the final on May 28 are under consideration, including London, Munich, Istanbul, Lisbon and Madrid. One issue counting against London is that Wembley is due to host the EFL play-off finals that weekend and Uefa has also chosen the capital to host the Finalissimo — the inaugural match between the European champions and South American champions, Italy v Argentina — on June 1.

Fifa is also coming under pressure to make an announcement about the Russia v Poland World Cup play-off which is due to be played in Moscow next month, while a decision will also have to be reached for Ukraine’s visit to Hampden to face Scotland on March 24.

Ukraine and Russia are both among Uefa’s 55 member associations and it is likely that an announcement will be made that no Uefa competition matches can be played in either country because of the conflict.

The former sports minister, Tracey Crouch, had called for a quick response from Uefa, saying: “Given the events of the past 24 hours it is quite clear that there is no way the final can be played in St Petersburg, so Uefa should make that decision as soon as possible and then people can start to make preparations for the new venue.”

Wembley hosted the 2013 final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and could step in this year

Wembley hosted the 2013 final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and could step in this year