Galatasaray vs. Juventus Match to Go Ahead
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
ISTANBUL (Nov 27, 1998 - 12:33 EST) - Galatasaray has received a fax from Juventus announcing the Italian club's plans to arrive in Turkey next Tuesday for a rescheduled European Champions' League match, Anatolian news agency said on Friday.
There had been uncertainty over whether Juventus would go to Istanbul for the match which was postponed this week amid tension over the fate of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.
"The Italian team sent a fax to Galatasaray announcing that it would come," Anatolian reported.
Italian sports minister Giovanna Melandri thanked her Turkish counterpart on Thursday for an invitation to the match but said her government would decide whether she should go.
European soccer's governing body UEFA postponed the group B clash by a week from Wednesday to Dec. 2, following widespread Turkish protests over Italy's failure to extradite Ocalan to Turkey.
UEFA vice-president Antonio Matarrese of Italy hinted the match could be postponed again if the political climate remains fraught.
Turkey holds Ocalan responsible for thousands of deaths in 14 years of conflict between his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and security forces.
