Georgia to host Ireland in Karlsruhe
Enlarge imageTBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia’s World Cup home qualifier against Ireland scheduled for September 6 will be played in the German city of Karlsruhe, the Georgian football federation (GFF) announced on Tuesday.
Last week, world soccer’s governing body FIFA announced that the European Group Eight qualifier would be moved from Tbilisi to a neutral venue due to the tensions in Georgia following a military conflict with Russia over the breakaway South Ossetia province earlier this month.
The conflict erupted when Georgia sent in troops and tanks to try to take back the province, provoking a huge counter-attack from Russia.
FIFA set the GFF a Tuesday deadline to nominate a venue.
"We had several options but decided on Karlsruhe," GFF general secretary Ucha Ugulava told Reuters.
Georgia striker Alexandre Iashvili played for Bundesliga club Karlsruhe SC, giving the Georgians much-needed support from neutral German fans, Ugulava said.
After playing Ireland, Georgia travel to Udine, Italy, to take on the world champions in their next qualifier on September 10.
(Reporting by Vakhtang Bzikadze, writing by Gennady Fyodorov; Editing by Clare Fallon)
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TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia’s World Cup home qualifier against Ireland scheduled for September 6 will be played in the German city of Karlsruhe, the Georgian football federation (GFF) announced on Tuesday.
Last week, world soccer’s governing body FIFA announced that the European Group Eight qualifier would be moved from Tbilisi to a neutral venue due to the tensions in Georgia following a military conflict with Russia over the breakaway South Ossetia province earlier this month.
The conflict erupted when Georgia sent in troops and tanks to try to take back the province, provoking a huge counter-attack from Russia.
FIFA set the GFF a Tuesday deadline to nominate a venue.
"We had several options but decided on Karlsruhe," GFF general secretary Ucha Ugulava told Reuters.
Georgia striker Alexandre Iashvili played for Bundesliga club Karlsruhe SC, giving the Georgians much-needed support from neutral German fans, Ugulava said.
After playing Ireland, Georgia travel to Udine, Italy, to take on the world champions in their next qualifier on September 10.
(Reporting by Vakhtang Bzikadze, writing by Gennady Fyodorov; Editing by Clare Fallon)
© 2008 Reuters Click for restrictions
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