Shakhtar want to play Champions League ties at Chelsea

Image caption, Shakhtar Donetsk won the Ukrainian Premier League title by 12 points last season

Shakhtar Donetsk won the Ukrainian Premier League title by 12 points last season

Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk want to play their Champions League home games at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge this season.

Shakhtar have been unable to use their Donbas Arena since the 2014 Russia-backed annexation of Donetsk, playing domestic matches in Kyiv and Lviv, and European home games in Germany, Slovenia and Poland.

Negotiations are ongoing according to Ukrainian sources, with Chelsea providing the preferred option because of the chance to play at the Blues' 40,000-capacity stadium.

Sources have stressed the move is not commercially motivated, with the clubs having built a strong relationship since Chelsea signed Mykhailo Mudryk in 2023 and through their involvement in the charity match Game4Ukraine.

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Fulham's Craven Cottage and Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium were also considered as Shakhtar explored options for bringing elite-level European football to west London.

However, both have smaller capacities than Stamford Bridge and the proposition of playing Europe's biggest clubs or even English rivals in London has officials believing they can sell out a larger arena.

The move is intended to connect with some of the 32,000 Ukraine-born residents in the capital, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures, with about 100,000 people of Ukrainian heritage living in the UK.

The availability of Chelsea's stadium follows the club's 10th-place Premier League finish last season, which left them without European football.

That means there should be no significant scheduling clashes, though Hammersmith and Fulham Council, and Uefa, would need to approve additional fixtures.

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