Europe's ruling football body UEFA is looking into contingency plans for where to stage the Champions League final in May after Russia started an invasion of Ukraine, the Press Association reported on Thursday.
UEFA has been under pressure to strip Russian city of St Petersburg of the staging the showcase game on May 28 since the Ukraine-Russia crisis escalated early in the week.
Russian president Vladimir Putin early Thursday has ordered a military invasion of Ukraine which could prompt UEFA to decide the game would not be played in St Petersburg.
PA suggested that UEFA may wait with appointing a new hosts to see which teams make the final. It said that having two English teams in the final like last year could lead to the game being played in England.
UEFA will also have to decide whether Russia will play one or possibly two World Cup play-offs at home in March as planned.
The ruling Ski body FIS is meanwhile looking into a possible cancellation of its cross country World Cup finals March 18-20 at the Russian venue of Tyumen. Sources told dpa that the issue would be discussed around weekend races in Lahti, Finland.
There are also ski cross World Cup events in Russia this weekend at Sunny Valley which were still on the FIS calendar Thursday.
