GENEVA (AP) – UEFA will continue to schedule Euro matches in Azerbaijan next year, although on Tuesday it made the decision that the country cannot host its competitions “until further notice” of the clash with neighboring Armenia.
Baku is expected to host 3 matches at Euro 2020 level, with Switzerland, Turkey and Wales, in June, followed by the quarter-finals on 3 July at the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium.
Azerbaijan is one of 12 host countries of the 24-team tournament, which was postponed for one year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Belgium, the planned headquarters of Euro 2020, defected three years ago when the allocation of a stadium in Brussels failed. The four matches in Brussels were transferred to Wembley Stadium in London, which had already been decided for the semi-finals and the final.
Two weeks ago, UEFA transferred League of Nations matches for Azerbaijan and Armenia to impartial countries in the midst of their clash in Nagorno-Karabakh. The historical dispute erupted last month.
“UEFA believes that the situations planned for UEFA matches in these countries are not met,” the European football framework said in a statement.
“The scenario in the region will be monitored,” UEFA said, although the addition of Tuesday’s resolution of its executive committee “does not mean that the plans under way for the organization of UEFA Euro 2020 matches in Baku in June next year. “
The next match affected will be Qarabag in the Europa League against Villarreal on 29 October, to be played in Baku, at another stadium.
Both countries will have house games in the League of Nations in November that must be impartial venues.
This month, Azerbaijan played at his home in Albania and Armenia moved to Poland.
Nagorno-Karabakh is located in Azerbaijan, but has been controlled through Armenian ethnic forces since 1994. A separatist war began after the dissolution of the Soviet Union three years earlier.
For security reasons since 2007, UEFA has separated the armenian and Azerbaijan national team and club in their draws.
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