Closure of airspace and the threat of expulsion: what problems surround the confrontation "Spartak" - "Leipzig" in LE

A week ago, no one could have imagined that holding Spartak's matches in the 1/8 finals of the Europa League would be fraught with great logistical difficulties.

Fans of the red-and-whites were looking forward to two bright meetings and were only worried about the permitted attendance at the Opening Arena.

However, the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine made serious adjustments to their plans.

First, on Friday, UEFA ruled that all home matches between Russian and Ukrainian teams must be played on neutral territory.

Secondly, on Sunday, the European Union completely banned flights over its territory to Russian aircraft, including private aircraft.

Thus, Muscovites will have a difficult and long road to Germany, where on March 10 the first match with Leipzig is to take place.

According to RBC, a meeting will be held on Monday with the participation of representatives of UEFA and Spartak, where they will discuss this trip.

It is reported that among the options are departure from another state or departure by a third-party airline.

The first in the current conditions looks quite real.

In particular, the team is able to fly to Istanbul, from where flights from Moscow depart regularly so far, and from there by Turkish Airlines to Berlin.

In this case, she will spend about eight hours in the air.

You can also consider Tbilisi, from where you can also get to Berlin.

It would be possible to consider the option with ground transport.

The Strizh branded train travels almost 2,000 km to the capital of Germany in just over a day.

Finally, the most exotic and unpleasant option is to travel by bus.

It is difficult to imagine how the players will feel after such a trip.

Moreover, on the evening of March 6, a derby with Dynamo in the RPL awaits them.

Theoretically, the red-whites can combine two modes of transport, for example, fly to Kaliningrad, and from there take a bus to Berlin.

It is not yet clear where the return, nominally home match on March 17 will take place.

However, the club reported that they were inclined to travel to Azerbaijan.

“The priority option for the match with Leipzig is Baku.

We are working on this option with colleagues from UEFA.

At the beginning of the week we are waiting for specifics, ”said Dmitry Zelenov, head of the club’s public relations department.

He was also supported by the ex-president of the ten-time champions of Russia, Andrei Chervichenko, who called Azerbaijan a “normal choice”.

In his opinion, the attitude towards the Russian team there will be neutral, and "there will be no hysteria."

“The airspace with Azerbaijan is open, maybe some of the fans will fly to the game.

Perhaps local fans will come there and Spartak will have more support than Leipzig, ”Championship” quotes Chervichenko.

However, other countries cannot be excluded.

For example, according to sports journalist Ivan Karpov, the former shareholder of Muscovites Jevan Cheloyants suggested that the red-and-whites play in Armenia.

According to an insider, Spartak "did not rule out" the possibility of holding a meeting in Yerevan.

Finally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, immediately after the announcement of the UEFA verdict, said that he would be glad if the matches of Russian teams were played on the territory of this country.

“I received information that there is an initiative for Russian clubs to play home matches in Serbia, since now some teams from individual countries do not want to go to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar.

There is, apparently, the initiative of UEFA, FIBA.

If everyone agrees with this, we will become a good host for everyone, if we help solve the problem in this way, ”R-Sport quotes Vučić.

We can say for sure that if Spartak still plays in Azerbaijan or Armenia, then Leipzig will also have to go through a difficult path. 

Unfortunately, the most negative option is not excluded, in which Spartak will not play in the Europa League at all.

So, according to the Polish portal Meczyki, the red-whites can be excluded from the tournament, and the sponsorship agreement with Gazprom can be broken.

Allegedly, tough new sanctions will be announced by UEFA on Monday.

Meanwhile, Spain took the initiative to exclude Russian teams from international competitions.

This was stated on Sunday by Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez.