By Mark Baber
July 19 – UEFA has taken the decision to keep teams from Russia and Ukraine apart in European competition but are allowing the Ukrainian teams to play home games despite fears over the security situation in the country.
Zenit and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk will be kept apart in the Champions League third qualifying round draw. But after assessing the security situation in the country, the UEFA Emergency Panel has decided to allow Dnipro and Chornomorets Odessa to play their UEFA club competition matches at home, in spite of Odessa having recently seen a massacre in which Ukrainian ultras were implicated.
“In light of the current political situation, the Russian Football Union [RFS] and the Football Federation of Ukraine [FFU] have expressed concerns about safety and security in the case of Russian and Ukrainian teams being drawn against each other in UEFA competition,” said a UEFA statement.
“After evaluating the request and taking into account the safety and security situation in the region, the UEFA Emergency Panel has decided that Ukrainian and Russian teams cannot be drawn against each other until further notice.
“Consequently, Zenit and Dnipro will be prevented from being pitted together when the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round draw is made on July 18.”
Anatoly Vorobyov, the Russian Football Union’s Secretary General welcomed the move, which forestalls the possibility of Zenit Saint Petersburg and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk meeting in Champions League qualifying, saying, “I wrote a letter to UEFA myself, asking that Russian and Ukrainian clubs should be kept apart.”
“I think we need to get rid of any potential risks. I don’t think we need to give groups of people another reason to show their negative feelings that have built up.
“Football is not politics and there is no need to use football as a political tool. As far as I am aware, those from the Ukrainian side are also in favour of teams from the two countries being kept apart.”
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