KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: UEFA’s executive committee has switched the 2023 European Super Cup from the Russian city of Kazan to Athens, where it will be held at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium, home of Olympiacos, on Wednesday, August 16.

The decision owes everything to President Vladimir Putin’s military invasion of Ukraine and ends all Russian hopes of a thaw in relations.

Russia’s Football Union condemned UEFA’s decision because “in the framework of the exclusion of our clubs and national teams from international competitions it was expected and has nothing to do with sport.”

The RFU insisted that Kazan, the Tatar capital, had “enormous experience” in staging international events at the highest level, including “from the point of view of security.”

He added that “at this time we are focusing our efforts on the return of Russian football to the system of international competitions.”

Last year UEFA moved the Champions League final from St Petersburg to Paris.

In other decisions UEFA confirmed Slovakia as host for the final tournament of the 2025 European Under-21 championship. The competition will have 16 teams and the matches will be played in eight venues in eight different cities.

UEFA has also cancelled the emergency rules and regulations adopted to cope with effects of the Covid pandemic.

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