UK to offer 3,000 Eurovision tickets to displaced Ukrainians

Britain's government will make 3,000 tickets for the Eurovision Song Contest available to displaced Ukrainians after their country could not host the competition because of Russia's invasion last year.

The government also said it would provide 10 million pounds (AED 44 million) of funding to help host Eurovision in May on behalf of Ukraine, which won the competition in 2022 and would generally have become the host for the following year.

"Today's announcement means that thousands of tickets will be offered to those displaced by war so that they can take part in a show honouring their homeland, their culture and their music," Britain's Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said.

"As always, we stand together with the Ukrainian people and their fight for freedom."

The northern English city of Liverpool will host the 2023 Eurovision. Britain was the runner-up last year.

British broadcaster BBC will stage the event, which usually draws a television audience of nearly 200 million and was last held in Britain in 1998. Ukraine has automatically qualified for the grand final of the competition.