Ukraine crisis: English clubs should boycott Champions League final if in St Petersburg - Truss
- Published
The Champions League final is currently scheduled to take place at the Krestovsky Stadium on 28 May
Any English clubs who reach the Champions League final should boycott it if it is held in St Petersburg, says Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Uefa are almost certain to move the final away from the city over the escalating Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Russia has ordered troops into two rebel-held regions of Ukraine.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday there was "no chance of holding football tournaments in a Russia that invades sovereign countries".
The UK has introduced sanctions against Russia amid fears a full-scale invasion is planned.
Asked by LBC host Nick Ferrari whether an English club should boycott the final if it went ahead in Russia, Truss said: "Yes. If I was them I would boycott it.
"I would personally not want to be playing in a football match in St Petersburg given what the Putin regime is doing."
The Champions League final is currently scheduled to take place in St Petersburg on Saturday, 28 May.
Premier League sides Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City are among the 16 teams left in the competition.
A number of political figures said on Tuesday the final should be moved.
"I would be appalled if the match was to go ahead," Truss earlier told BBC Radio 4.
"I don't believe that should go ahead in St Petersburg. I think it's wrong at this stage with what Russia is doing internationally to have a football tournament there."
Tensions escalated further this week when Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered troops into two rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine after recognising them as independent states.
Fears over an invasion have been rising in recent months, as Russia has massed around 150,000 troops along Ukraine's borders, according to US estimates.
Manchester City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko wrote on Instagram on Tuesday that "no-one will ever be able to appropriate" Ukraine.
Former Fifa vice president and Irish FA honorary life president Jim Boyce said he is in no doubt that the Champions League final should be moved away from St Petersburg.
"I have absolutely no doubt that they should withdraw the Champions League final from Russia," he told BBC 5 Live.
"I'm someone who believes that politics and sport really shouldn't mix but, at the end of the day, this situation in Russia is just intolerable.
"Think of the amount of income that would be brought into St Petersburg by people going there and spending money there. Whatever sanctions can be imposed to make it more and more difficult should happen."
Boyce added that he did want a situation to arise where an English club reached the Champions League final and it was their responsibility as to whether they went to St Petersburg to play in it.
"I don't honestly think anyone wants it to come to that point. That's why Uefa must make the decision so that it doesn't put players and clubs in that position."