Football
ESPN staff 10y

Ukrainian, Russian clubs kept apart

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.

The ruling was made "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 Dnipropetrovsk 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 and Chornomorets Odesa. UEFA also said a security assessment showed that the western city of Lviv and capital Kiev can continue to host matches.

However, UEFA ruled differently in the case of Israel, barring Israeli teams from playing Champions and Europa League matches at home while the fighting with Hamas continues.

Citing the "current security situation," UEFA says Israeli clubs must propose alternative venues in another country for home legs "until further notice."

Maccabi Tel Aviv had been due to host a qualifying game in the Champions League and Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Europa League this month.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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