Sport

UEFA acts by cancelling all games this week

Sport across the world has been hit by the shock waves emanating from the terrorist attacks in the United States.

Thu Sept 13 2001 - 01:00

Sport across the world has been hit by the shock waves emanating from the terrorist attacks in the United States.

This week's Champions League and UEFA Cup matches have been postponed. Nine games involving British clubs will now be played at a later date. Manchester United's game in Athens against Olympiakos and Celtic's match in Glasgow against Rosenborg due to be played last night are now expected to be staged on Wednesday, October 10th.

The UEFA Cup games involving British teams will now be played next Thursday, September 20th. These are: Maritimo v Leeds, AEK Athens v Hibernian, Chelsea v Levski Sofia, Ipswich v Torpedo Moscow, Aston Villa v NK Varteks and Kilmarnock v Viking Stavanger.

Rangers were supposed to be playing Anzhi Makhachkala in Dagestan but chairman David Murray had already pulled his players out of the game over safety fears in the war-torn Russian republic.

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There has been some criticism of UEFA from clubs on the continent for not calling off Tuesday night's games. Roma players and manager Fabio Capello said their match against Real Madrid should not have been played, and PSV Eindhoven have asked for their match against Nantes, in which they were thrashed 4-1 to be replayed. PSV chairman Harry van Raaij said before the game that it should have been postponed.

UEFA chief executive Gerhard Aigner said in a statement: "The scale of this tragedy and the pain and sorrow which it brings should cause us all to reflect.

"UEFA feels it is right that the European football family should respect the loss and suffering now being felt by those families who have lost their loved ones by postponing all UEFA games scheduled to be played this week."

World governing body, FIFA will go ahead, however, with this weekend's Asian Football Confederation World Cup qualifiers and the Under-17 World Championships.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: "This stance represents our determination to ensure football does not capitulate in the face of violence. The world today is no longer the one we knew. But football must remain a beacon of hope."

Motor racing's ruling body FIA said there were no plans to cancel Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis a fortnight later, or the Japanese Grand Prix next month. The Indianapolis race may yet be postponed, however.

Horse racing in Britain will pay its respects tomorrow to those who died in America - but scheduled racing will continue as planned.

Alan Delmonte, communications manager at the British Horseracing Board, said: "Racecourses today held a minute's silence as a mark of respect for those who died in Tuesday's atrocity in the United States.

"A three-minute silence is being held across Europe on Friday morning. BHB will co-ordinate a further racing industry-wide period of silence that day as a mark of respect."