UEFA said that it's Emergency Panel "has decided Russian and Ukrainian clubs cannot be drawn against each other in a UEFA competition in the upcoming season," according to Dmitriy Rogovitskiy of REUTERS. The decision was taken "after months of tension between the two countries following Russia's annexation of Crimea and civil unrest in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine." UEFA said in a statement, "In light of the current political situation, the Russian Football Union and the Football Federation of Ukraine have expressed concerns about safety and security in the case of Russian and Ukrainian teams being drawn against each other in UEFA competition." As a result, Russian Premier League side Zenit St. Petersburg and Ukrainian Premier League side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk "will be prevented from being pitted together" when the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round draw is made on Friday (REUTERS, 7/17).
NO MATCHES IN ISRAEL: The AP reported UEFA "is barring Israeli teams from playing European matches at home while the fighting between Israel and Hamas continues." The decision by UEFA's emergency panel "will affect Israeli teams playing in the Champions League and Europa League." Israeli Premier League club 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" (AP, 7/18).
