The Portuguese city of Porto is gaining more and more traction as the likely host of this year’s Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea.
Disagreements between the British government and European football’s governing body UEFA over attendance levels are making it unlikely that London’s Wembley Stadium will be selected as the replacement for Turkey’s Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.
Now, media in the UK is reporting that Porto appears set to host the final instead on May 29, which would mean a return of the Champions League’s deciding match to Portugal after Lisbon’s Estádio da Luz hosted last season’s final.
However, according to the UK’s Mail, the emergence of Portugal as the host country for the final has dismayed public health experts.
Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of Norwich, told Sportsmail: “From a public health perspective, the safest thing would have been to have the match in London and for UEFA not to bring people to the game who are not essential to the running of the game.”
