This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/28/russia-demand-victory-abandoned-match-montenegro

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Russia demand victory from abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier in Montenegro Russia demand victory from abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier in Montenegro
(about 5 hours later)
Russia have demanded they be awarded a victory after their Euro 2016 qualifier against Montenegro was abandoned due to attacks on their players. Russia have demanded they be awarded a victory after Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier in Montenegro was abandoned after attacks on their players.
The match in Podgorica, Montenegro, was abandoned at 0-0 after 67 minutes on Friday after Russia’s Dmitri Kombarov was hit by an object, sparking a brawl between the players. The game had previously been suspended in the first minute when the Russia goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, was struck in the head by a flare. He was stretchered off and required hospital treatment. The match in Podgorica was abandoned at 0-0 after 67 minutes after Russia’s Dmitri Kombarov was hit by an object, sparking a brawl between the players. The game had previously been suspended in the first minute when the Russia goalkeeper, Igor Akinfeev, was struck on the head by a flare. He was later treated in hospital for burns.
The Russian Football Union president, Nikolai Tolstykh, said in a statement that his organisation would file a protest to Uefa and that “in our view, it should be a technical defeat for Montenegro”. He added that the match should have been abandoned following the attack on Akinfeev, but that Uefa’s match delegate Barry Bright overruled Russia’s objections. “The Russian national team was forced to continue the game, but I want to emphasize that we warned the delegate and Uefa that we would submit a protest,” Tolstykh said. The Russian Football Union president, Nikolai Tolstykh, said that his organisation would file a protest to Uefa and that “in our view, it should be a technical defeat for Montenegro”. He added that the match should have been abandoned following the attack on Akinfeev, but that Uefa’s match delegate Barry Bright had overruled Russia’s objections. Tolstykh said: “Our team was forced to continue the game.”
In addition to the attacks on Akinfeev and Kombarov, the RFU said that the Russia midfielder Alan Dzagoev had been struck by coins thrown from the stands while receiving medical treatment for a thigh injury. In addition to the attacks on Akinfeev and Kombarov, the RFU said the midfielder Alan Dzagoev had been struck by coins thrown from the stands while receiving treatment for a thigh injury.
Akinfeev was treated in a hospital in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica for minor burns and a neck injury. The RFU said on Saturday that the CSKA Moscow keeper had also suffered concussion but would be able to return to Russia with the rest of the team. Akinfeev, who also sustained concussion and a neck injury, was treated in a hospital in the Montenegrin capital, but was later cleared to return home.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who’s been worrying about me. I feel fine,” Akinfeev said on the RFU website. “It turns out that even this kind of thing happens in football. I hope that nothing similar ever happens again, neither in Montenegro nor in any other country in the world.” “I want to say thank you to everyone who’s been worrying about me. I feel fine,” Akinfeev said. “I hope that nothing similar ever happens again, neither in Montenegro nor in any other country.”
The general secretary of the Montenegro football association, Momir Djurdjevac, described the fans who forced the match to be abandoned as hypocrites and barbarians. “These fans sing ‘Montenegro we love you’ but throw flares, insult rivals and cause all sorts of incidents every time they turn up and that’s outright hypocrisy,” he said. “We have left the impression of barbarians and this is a complete disaster. The general secretary of Montenegro’s FA, Momir Durdevac, described the fans who forced the match to be abandoned as “hypocrites” and “barbarians”.
“It seems we don’t deserve to have a nation, a soccer team or a berth in a major tournament. As far as I am concerned the game should not have continued after the first-minute incident. We can only thank God that no one was seriously hurt.” “These fans sing ‘Montenegro we love you’ but throw flares, insult rivals and cause all sorts of incidents every time,” he said. “We have left the impression of barbarians and this is a complete disaster. As far as I’m concerned the game should not have continued after the first-minute incident. We can only thank God that no one was seriously hurt.”
Durdevac also questioned whether players will accept future international call-ups amid such an atmosphere. “It’s a human catastrophe, the final straw. What can we do after this? We pay a fine, we say goodbye to a great competition. And then there is a new game, and again there are flares and again there are chants, everything that should not be. Sorry, but I had to say this. Who is going to come to play for the national team under these conditions?”
Uefa said it would not opening formal proceedings before receiving reports from the match delegate and referee.
It is not the first time a match has been abandoned in this campaign, with Serbia and Albania’s meeting in October called off after a brawl broke out when a drone was flown over the pitch.
The latest incident comes after the Uefa president, Michel Platini, warned of a return to the “dark days” of hooliganism, and a rising trend of “nationalism and extremism”.