4 years ago
316 
By Chris Jones
BBC rugby union correspondent
Marseille will host the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals in 2021 after organisers abandoned plans for the French city to host this year's showpieces.
European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) announced in June they still plan to stage the 2020 finals in mid-October.
The venues for those games has yet to be decided.
With Marseille now staging the 2021 finals, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London will host in 2022.
"Due to the many uncertainties created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been decided that the 2020 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals will not now be held in Marseille as planned and the matches will be played at a new venue or venues," an EPCR statement said.
"With tens of thousands of fans scheduled to travel to the south of France, the board of EPCR and the local organising committee have agreed that insufficient safeguards are currently in place during the public health crisis to stage two high-profile matches at the 67,000-capacity Stade Velodrome."
The 2021 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals will be played on the weekend of 21-22 May.
The quarter-finals of both tournaments this year will be played between 18-20 September and the semi-finals are scheduled for 25-27 September.
