Manchester City and Inter Milan are favourites to reach the final, which is due to be staged at the Ataturk Stadium on 10 June, but there are concerns about the prospect of civil disturbances if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade reign is ended by this month’s polls.
UEFA would be extremely reluctant to switch the final, as the biggest event in European football has twice been moved from Istanbul due to Covid in 2020 and 2021, but may be forced to consider a late change as the safety of fans is their primary concern.
Mail Sport has learned that an informal approach has been made to the Portuguese Football Federation, who have previously stepped in with Lisbon and Porto staging the final in 2020 and 2021.
Erdogan trailed his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu by five per cent in a tight poll ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday, which analysts suggested indicated that the three-horse race could go to a run-off between the pair which would be held on 28 May.
With the Champions League final to take place less than two weeks later UEFA may be forced to make a late decision, although sources at the governing body insisted on Thursday that there was no plan to move the game from Turkey.
