European football’s governing body, UEFA, on Thursday announced that it will reach a verdict on Russia’s hosting rights of the Champions League final following the invasion of Ukraine.

WuzupNigeria reported that UEFA has been under pressure to move the venue of this season’s UCL final holding on May 28 from the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg.

Russia last hosted the UCL final in 2008 when Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalty shootouts in Moscow, the first to be held in the country.

On Wednesday, UEFA said that it is “constantly and closely monitoring the situation” but “at present, there are no plans to change the venue.”

However, an emergency meeting of UEFA’s Executive Committee has been announced to hold on Friday morning after Russian President, Vladimir Putin, declared military actions on Ukraine, with missiles fired, killing some Ukrainians.

“Following the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, the UEFA president has called an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee for 10:00 CET on Friday 25 February, in order to evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions,” UEFA said on Twitter some hours ago.

In a follow-up statement released on its website on Thursday afternoon, UEFA condemned the invasion of Ukraine and vowed support for the country.

The football body confirmed that it would take a decision on the venue of the UCL final after the meeting.

“UEFA shares the international community’s significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine.

“As the governing body of European football, UEFA is working tirelessly to develop and promote football according to common European values such as peace and respect for human rights, in the spirit of the Olympic Charter.

“We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people.

“We are dealing with this situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency. Decisions will be taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and announced tomorrow,” the statement read.