November 26 – Once again, the impact of coronavirus rather than anything on the field has dashed a country’s Nations League hopes.
UEFA has announced that Switzerland, who have not won a single game on the pitch, have been awarded a 3-0 victory over Ukraine after their November 17 fixture was called off when the entire Ukrainian team were quarantined by local Lucerne health authorities.
Several Ukraine players tested positive and UEFA’s appeal committee awarded Switzerland a 3-0 walkover by default, a decision that lifted the Swiss, who had been in last place in their group, above Ukraine based on a tiebreaker of head-to-head results and relegated Ukraine from the competition’s top tier.
The Ukraine soccer federation later said its players tested negative on returning to Kyiv and will immediately appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“This is a very dangerous precedent that strikes the principle of sport, according to which the results of matches should be determined,” UAF president Andrii Pavelko said on Facebook.
Pavelko said he would propose at the next UEFA executive committee meeting on December 3 that national teams are given 24 hours to rearrange home matches postponed due to quarantine rules, and 48 hours for away games.
UEFA’s ruling followed a similar decision earlier this month in awarding Romania a 3-0 win over Norway whose government barred the team from travelling to Bucharest.
See Foul play in Switzerland? Ukraine claim game should and could have been played
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