UEFA move games in Turkey to neutral venues
The UEFA Cup game between Maccabi Haifa and Valencia, which had originally been switched from Israel to Izmir in a bid to avoid trouble in Haifa, will also be switched outside of Turkey to a new venue.
UEFA did not announce where the matches would now be played. Almost 60 people have been killed in terror attacks in Istanbul since November 15.
The match involving Juve and Galatasaray was due to have taken place last night, but had already been switched to next Tuesday, while the Chelsea versus Besiktas match is down to be played on December 9.
It must now be determined by UEFA whether the matches can still be staged on the planned dates.
The match involving Maccabi and Valencia, which was originally scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed in anticipation of a new date being found in the calendar.
A UEFA statement said: “UEFA’s emergency panel, meeting today in Brussels, has decided, in light of the current security situation, to switch three European club games due to be played in Turkey over the next two weeks to neutral venues outside of the country.
“The decision comes in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul and follows a broad evaluation of the current threat to security, the advice offered by a variety of governments, including the assurances offered by the Turkish Government, and the investigations still being undertaken by the relevant authorities.
“Taking everything into account, the emergency panel felt that it was in the overall interests of clubs, players, fans and European football in general to move these particular ties at this time.”
UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner, said: “This has not been an easy decision.
“The emergency panel has to evaluate all the available evidence while focusing on the safety and security of the participants and fans in UEFA’s competitions.
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