August 24 – The refusal by British authorities to issue a visa to Russian midfielder Magomed Ozdoev to enter Scotland for a European game was a “huge injustice,” according to his coach at Greek club PAOK.
Ozdoev was denied entry for PAOK’s Europa Conference League qualifying game against Hearts this week.
The decision came three weeks after another player with a Russian passport, Gaël Ondoua of Swiss club Servette, could not travel to Glasgow to play in the Champions League qualifying rounds against Rangers.
“I feel a sense of huge injustice not to have a player here in our group because of the reason of a visa,” said Răzvan Lucescu.
“I don’t understand the people who decide about this,” the Romanian added. “In a personal way, I feel very bad.”
Russian teams were barred by FIFA and UEFA from European competitions within days of the military invasion of Ukraine. But there is no official line when it comes to individual players with foreign clubs.
UEFA said in a statement it could not intervene in visa cases because government authorities “are the sole decision makers in this regard.”
Ozdoev, a 30-year-old who played 35 times for Russia, left his home country last year after four seasons with Zenit St. Petersburg to join Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük before switching to PAOK.
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