NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA has decided to keep Ukrainian and Russian clubs from playing each other “until further notice” because of the continuing unrest between the neighboring countries.
European football’s governing body made the ruling “in light of the current political situation” after the Russian and Ukrainian associations “expressed concerns about safety and security.”
The UEFA emergency panel ruling means Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg and Ukrainian club Dnipro cannot be paired against each other in the Champions League third qualifying round draw on July 18.
But the panel decided at a meeting on Wednesday that the turmoil in eastern Europe did not prevent matches being played at home by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Chornomorets Odesa. UEFA also said a security assessment showed that the western city of Lviv and capital Kiev can continue to host matches.
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