UEFA Still Undecided on Site of Galatasaray-Juventus Match
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
GENEVA (Nov 23, 1998 - 17:04 EST) - European soccer's governing body said Monday it was expecting to make a decision on Wednesday's European Champions' League match between Galatasaray-Juventus as soon as possible, but it had not yet to hear from any of the principal parties involved in the matter.
"As soon as we are informed by the relevant governments, we will make a decision," a UEFA spokesman said Monday.
"That could be in an hour's time or not until tonight, but we are monitoring the situation and will make a decision at the earliest possible moment."
The Turkish and Italian champions are due to meet in Istanbul in their Group B match on Wednesday but the match is in jeopardy as a result of deteriorating relations between the two countries.
Relations have plummeted since Italy arrested Kurdish rebel Abdullah Ocalan 10 days ago and turned down Turkey's extradition request.
Juventus, however, is now reluctant to travel to Istanbul to play the match.
"I hope that UEFA decides not to send us to Turkey," Juventus' owner Giovanni Agnelli told reporters.
"I don't think they'll shoot at us but the situation on the pitch will be difficult. It would be an irregular way to play a game. I hope UEFA takes this into account," Agnelli said.
Juventus players, many of whom are not Italian nationals, were said to be less than enthusiastic about playing in Istanbul.
"I'm not ashamed to say that I'm scared and I'm really not convinced about going to Turkey ... If it were up to me, we wouldn't be going to Istanbul," France's World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane told La Stampa.
His compatriot Didier Deschamps was also against going to Istanbul.
"I don't want to go to Turkey. A diplomatic solution would be to play on neutral ground. we don't necessarily have to obey UEFA's wishes," he said.
"Somebody wrote that we didn't want to go to Istanbul because we're scared of Galatasaray. Are they joking? We don't want political matters to put our safety at stake," said Italian-born Gianluca Pessotto.
No Juventus fans were expected to take the risk of traveling to Istanbul to attend the match.
Juventus on Friday said it had asked for charter flights taking fans to Istanbul to be canceled and had withdrawn Italian tickets for the game.
Turkey's Interior Minister Kutlu Aktas said on Monday the match should go ahead as originally scheduled.
"There is no reason why this match should not go ahead," he was quoted as saying by Anatolian news agency.
"Around 20,000 security officials should be enough for 30,000 spectators. No one could do any better than that," said Aktas.
Thousands of protesters marched through the streets across Turkey over the weekend, burning Italian flags and goods after a Rome court rejected a Turkish arrest warrant for Ocalan, strengthening indications that Italy would not extradite him.
Initial public joy in Turkey over the capture of Ocalan turned to anger after Italy's reluctance to hand Ocalan over.
Turkey's sports minister urged calm.
"We want our people to act with common sense. There could be some provocations," the agency quoted minister Yucel Seckiner as saying. The minister blamed Italy for controversy over the match's security, it said.
