UEFA Won't Allow Russian Premier League FC Rubin Kazan To Play Chelsea At Home

UEFA will not allow Russian Premier League FC Rubin Kazan to play Chelsea in its home city of Kazan in the Europa League quarterfinals, according to R-SPORT. Rubin had said that it would "appeal the decision to force the club to hold the April 11 game at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow because of a churned-up pitch in Kazan." However, UEFA said on Monday the decision was "final." Earlier Monday, Rubin Stadium Dir Pavel Nikulin insisted the club would do "everything possible and impossible" to ensure that the second leg could be held in Kazan. The pitch at the city's Central Stadium "has been replanted with more than six kilos of grass seed and passed fit by the Russian Premier League" for the club's next domestic league fixture against Lokomotiv Moscow on Saturday (R-SPORT, 3/25).