EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Russian soccer player Magomed Ozdoev has been denied a visa to enter Scotland for a European tournament in a “huge injustice,” his coach at Greek club PAOK said Wednesday.
Ozdoev denied access through the British government to the team’s Europa League qualifying match in Edinburgh on Thursday against Hearts.
The decision came three weeks after another player with a Russian passport, Gaël Ondoua of Swiss club Servette, was prevented from travelling to Glasgow to play the Champions League qualifying rounds against Rangers.
“I feel a great injustice to have a player here in our organization because of a visa,” PAOK coach Răzvan Lucescu told a news conference ahead of the first leg of the Europa League qualifiers.
“I don’t understand the others who do this,” the Romanian coach said. “From a personal point of view, I feel very bad. “
UEFA said in a statement that it simply cannot interfere on visa issues because governments “are the only ones who make decisions in this regard. “
Ozdoev, a 30-year-old midfielder who played 35 times for Russia, left his home country last year after 4 seasons at Zenit St. Petersburg to sign for Turkish club Fatih Karagümrük. He is in his first season with PAOK.
“We miss Mago,” said PAOK defender William Troost-Ekong. “We have to adapt as a team, but yes, of course I’m not happy that he’s not here with us today. “
“It’s very complicated to talk about football and politics,” said the Nigerian foreigner.
Russians like Zenit were banned from European competitions by UEFA days after the military invasion of Ukraine in February last year. FIFA also withdrew Russian players from its competitions, adding the men’s and women’s World Cups.
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