Russia was stripped of the right to host the Champions League final by UEFA on Friday with St. Petersburg replaced by Paris after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The men's final will still be held on May 28 but now at the 80,000-seat Stade de France after the decision by UEFA's executive committee.
“UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to the French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis,” European football's governing body said in a statement, according to the Associated Press (AP).
“Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement.”
The Kremlin said it regretted UEFA's decision, saying the city would have made a good host for a "festival of football".
"It is a shame that such a decision was made," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Agence-France Presse (AFP).
"Saint Petersburg could have provided the best possible conditions for holding this football event."
The meeting also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams in UEFA competitions will have to play at neutral venues until further notice.
Spartak Moscow, in the Europa League, is the only club from either Russia or Ukraine still involved in European competition this season.
Russia is also set to host Poland while Ukraine visits Scotland next month in the World Cup playoff semifinals. These are governed by football’s global nodal agency FIFA and it may now force both nations to play their matches on neutral ground, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.
The Stade de France last hosted the Champions League final 16 years ago, when Barcelona beat Arsenal in the 2006 finale.
The 68,000-capacity St. Petersburg stadium was originally picked in 2019 to host the final in 2021. That was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move to strip St. Petersburg of the final follows calls from a group of European lawmakers who asked UEFA on Thursday to change the venue and stop considering Russian cities for major international football competitions.
The lawmakers also asked UEFA to end Gazprom's sponsorship of the continent's elite club competition. Friday's UEFA statement made no mention of Gazprom, however.
The stadium is named for Russian state-owned energy firm Gazprom, which is also a top-tier UEFA sponsor of the Champions League and European Championship.
UEFA executive committee member Alexander Dyukov is also the CEO of a Gazprom subsidiary.
The 2023 Champions League final is set to be contested in Istanbul with Wembley in London hosting the following year and Munich's Allianz Arena the venue for the final in 2025.
