True cost of Gazprom sponsorship as UEFA loses millions from cutting Russia ties

UEFA could lose tens of millions of pounds per season after tearing up their lucrative deal with one of their principal sponsors, Gazprom.

European football's governing body announced they had ended their partnership with the state-owned Russian energy company on Monday.

Sanctions implemented against Russia following Vladimir Putin 's invasion of Ukraine are being echoed in the sporting world and UEFA's announcement came as FIFA banned the nation from playing international fixtures.

Russian clubs will also be prevented from featuring in European competitions, meaning Spartak Moscow have been kicked out of the Europa League.

UEFA and FIFA were under intense pressure to impose strict punishments on Russia prior to their announcements and the former have also decided to sever their £34million-per-season deal with Gazprom, who were one of the main Champions League sponsors.

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"UEFA has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions," the governing body said in a statement on Monday.

"The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024."

Gazprom had sponsored Europe's premier club competition since 2012 and they were one of the official partners at Euro 2020 having extended their deal with UEFA until 2024 last year.

This season's Champions League final had been due to take place at Zenit Saint Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium, known as the Gazprom Arena.

However, UEFA stripped Russia of hosting rights last week and the showpiece will instead take place at the Stade de France in Paris.

A statement read: "The UEFA Executive Committee decided to relocate the final of the 2021/22 UEFA Men's Champions League from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The game will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.

"UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football's most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis.

"Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement."

Elsewhere, German club Schalke - who had been sponsored by Gazprom since 2007 - removed the company's logo from the front of their shirts last week.

Instead, they simply had 'Schalke 04' where their shirt sponsor would usually sit as they took on Karlsruher in 2. Bundesliga on Saturday.

Meanwhile, UEFA will hope to strike a deal with a new sponsor to soften the blow of terminating their partnership with Gazprom.