Skonto manager dismisses visa concerns

Skonto Riga today insisted there are no visa issues surrounding a number of their players ahead of tomorrow night’s Europa League second qualifying round meeting with Derry City at the Brandywell.

It had been reported that four of the Latvian side were refused visas by the British Embassy in Latvia, effectively barring them from entering the United Kingdom, and would be ineligible to play at the Brandywell.

Skonto’s goal scorer from the first leg, Brazilian striker Nathan Junior Carvalho, was believed to be one of the players ruled out but their English manager Paul Ashworth maintained this lunchtime that all of his squad would be available for the match.

Speaking to irishtimes.com shortly after landing at Dublin airport, from where the side will travel by coach to Derry, Ashworth confirmed that the players concerned had travelled with the squad and insisted there were “no problems” as to their eligibility.

As Latvia is a member of the EU the majority of their squad would not have required visas. However, they also count a number of ‘foreign’ players among their number who would have needed official clearance.

When contacted this afternoon, Uefa, who would normally assist when visa problems arise, were unaware of any issue.

With the sides locked at 1-1, Derry will hope to build on their slender away goal advantage to book a meeting with Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia in the next round.