Moscow set to receive trophy

Since the 1997 UEFA Champions League final in Munich, it has become an established tradition for the previous season's champions to formally return the UEFA Champions League trophy to UEFA at a special ceremony – and for the cup then to be handed to the host city to be displayed until the final.

Moscow ceremony
This year, the final of UEFA's most prestigious club competition will be played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Wednesday 21 May at 20.45CET (22.45 local time), and the trophy handover ceremony will be held in the Russian capital this coming Thursday, 3 April. The event will be staged from 16.00 local time (14.00CET) at the GUM, Krasnaya Ploschshad 3 (Red Square 3) in Moscow.

Trophy on display
The 2007 champions, AC Milan, will hand the UEFA Champions League trophy back to UEFA's President, Michel Platini. He will then pass it to the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, for the city to keep and display to the public until the final.

Leonardo and Dasaev
Milan will be represented by Leonardo, the former Brazil midfielder – a FIFA World Cup winner in 1994 – who finished his career with the Rossoneri and is now the club's technical operations director, together with director of organisation Umberto Gandini. Also attending the ceremony will be Rinat Dasaev, the former USSR goalkeeper who was an outstanding custodian for FC Spartak Moskva in the 1980s before moving to Sevilla FC towards the end of his playing days. The president of the Football Union of Russia, Vitaly Mutko, will represent the host national association. The handover ceremony will be followed by a press conference featuring Messrs Platini, Mutko and Luzhkov.

Matchball presentation
Prior to the handover, the official matchball to be used for the UEFA Champions League final will be presented by adidas at a separate ceremony taking place at the Manezhnaya Square from 15.00 local time (13.00CET).

Media requests
Media representatives wishing to attend the cup handover ceremony should send their requests via email to volovets@dszm.ru. The deadline is Wednesday 2 April. Please note that there is no media working area available at the GUM and that audio split boxes will be provided for radio and television crews. Media wishing to obtain pictures of the ceremony can request them by emailing media@uefa.ch.