António Costa was speaking at a ceremony in the gardens of the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon, in which the presidents of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), Fernando Gomes, and the Lisbon City Council, Fernando Medina, and the head of state also spoke.

"Here I would like to thank the health professionals and all the Portuguese who made it possible for Portugal to assert itself as a safe destination. And this is the great message that the choice of UEFA to carry out this competition in Portugal gives to the whole world: is that Portugal is a safe destination ", he declared.

The prime minister described Portugal as a safe place to live, tour, work or invest and stressed that "just last week, it saw its renewed recognition as the third most peaceful country in the world, the most peaceful in the entire European Union. "and that" for three consecutive years was chosen as the best tourist destination in the world ".

"This recognition by UEFA that we are a safe destination is something very important in the huge effort that the whole country is now making to, while fighting the pandemic, to be able to work towards the recovery of our economy," he added, sending "deep gratitude and friendship for the remarkable work you have done" for the president of the FPF and his team.

According to António Costa, "the merit, competence, prestige, commitment, enormous diplomatic capacity" of the FPF and, in particular, of its president, were decisive for the choice announced today by the union of European football federations.

Although no Portuguese club is already playing in the Champions League, the prime minister pointed to the final stage of this competition, which will take place in Lisbon, between 12 and 23 August, as "an early victory for all Portuguese", in combating the covid-19 pandemic.

"It was everyone's effort, the enormous discipline with which everyone followed the rules of confinement, they have practiced the rules of social detachment, the rules of individual protection that allowed us to differentiate Portugal and the way in which Portugal managed to control this pandemic", he maintained.

In his opinion, this "is also a deserved prize for health professionals", who demonstrated that Portugal has a National Health Service (SNS) "robust to respond to any eventuality".

UEFA, the union of European football federations, today announced that the 2019/2020 Champions League finals will take place in Lisbon, with quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals played between 12 and 23 August.

On June 2, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, had said that he expected "good news" in August about international football in Portugal, but claimed at the time that it was not for him to make that announcement.

The 2019/2020 edition of the Champions League was interrupted in March due to the covid-19 pandemic. The final was initially scheduled for May, in Istanbul, Turkey.