Arsenal will be unable to keep the Champions League trophy permanently should they defeat Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s final, owing to a crucial UEFA regulation.
The Gunners face the current holders in the final, where they are aiming to become the seventh English club to lift the famous trophy.
However, the silverware will not remain in north London indefinitely following any potential victory over the French champions due to UEFA rules.
Back in 2009, UEFA opted to present a replica trophy to each year’s winner with their name engraved upon it, allowing clubs to display it permanently within their museum.
While the victors raise the original trophy aloft after the match, it subsequently returns to UEFA’s possession at their headquarters in Switzerland.
In the event of an Arsenal triumph, the club may produce replicas of the cup but must clearly identify them as such, with replicas permitted to be no larger than 80% of the actual trophy’s size.
Prior to this rule change, clubs that had won the competition five times in total or three consecutive times were entitled to keep the trophy permanently.
Liverpool became the only English club to retain the trophy permanently after defeating AC Milan in the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ in 2005.
The Reds also hold the distinction of being the last side to keep the trophy in perpetuity before the rule change was introduced in 2009.
Speaking on the eve of the final in Budapest, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta described it as a “privilege” to compete in the showpiece occasion of football’s most prestigious club competition.
He said: “It’s huge. It’s a massive privilege. You see the impact immediately when you reach the final, how people react, to be there, to be present, to have travelled there, and the demands that you have [from] all of that.”
Arteta added: “It’s the most special competition in the world at club level. There’s no question about that. And I really want to enjoy the day, and obviously win it.”
