“ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN WILL NEVER MEET AGAIN”

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Mishel Platini, newly appointed president of the UEFA cancelled the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani national teams in July. Platini blamed former heads of UEFA, who did not make an attempt to prevent the meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani teams in the same group.

“The UEFA made a mistake two years ago, the national teams of two countries which are not in cordial relations appeared in the same group. It was not difficult to make a decision and involve Armenian and Azerbaijani teams in various groups,-he said,- When I became the president, the teams of the mentioned countries were to compete in September. We turned to regional experts asking them to present the situation. The experts offered to cancel the meeting, which was confirmed later. The points were given to the teams, since if the meeting did not take place, then no score could be”.

Platini ensured that Armenian and Azerbaijani teams will never appear in the same group again. “We have made a decision and have agreed with the organizers of the world championship selective stage, that during the casting of lots in Lozano in November the two teams will be in the same basket and will not be competitors”. To the question, if Armenia appeared in the basket of highest rating and Azerbaijan in the lowest, FIFA’s president Sep Blater answered: “FIFA is regulating that problem. We will not allow both teams to appear in the same basket. Trust me; I have been engaged in the casting of lots process since 1978”.

The he head of the Armenian Football Federation Ruben Hairapetian added: “I never agreed not to play or play in a neutral field. I have always fight for our authorities to guarantee and I, as the chairman of the Football Federation, have guaranteed the security of footballers. I have always been willing to play both in Armenia and in Azerbaijan”.