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The UEFA Champions League 2020-21 edition has its two finalists in the form of Manchester City and Chelsea who will lock horns on May 29 for the prestigious trophy. Considering the fact that it will be an all-English club finale, there are reports of the venue being changed from Turkey to England to avoid the need for around 8,000 English fans to travel abroad amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
After the possible alternative of Wembley Stadium was ruled out as it will be hosting the Championship play-off final on the same date, much to everyone's surprise, Villa Park has entered the fray to host the UCL final in place of Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul. Notably, Aston Villa have offered their home stadium for the highly-anticipated clash and have approached UEFA and FA regarding the same.
Will UEFA accept the proposal of Aston Villa?
While FA and UK government would welcome the move to shift the final to England as the citizens would not have to travel abroad for the same, it is very unlikely that UEFA will shift the venue at such a late stage, with the finale just around three weeks away from now.
Journalist Rob Dorsett also pointed out a few points while talking to Sky Sports that might go against Villa Park with this proposal. He said, "Villa Park isn't up to UEFA standards right now for hosting a champions league final. There have been good number of years since they have hosted European Football of course. They will have to do some massive changes to the press-box, to the media facilities, to the camera positions because there will be a need for more cameras around the stadium."
On the other hand, Turkish Football Federation will also make sure that they don't lose out on such a prestigious match. There will also be broadcasters, journalists, officials and so many more people involved who will have to change their travel and accommodation plans away from Istanbul, something which might not be feasible at ongoing point in time. While it is very unlikely that UEFA will accept the proposal, it will be very interesting to see how things unfold in the upcoming week.