Uefa confident game will go ahead despite bomb blast

Daniella Matar,Pa
Tuesday 25 November 2008 15:16 GMT
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Uefa are confident tonight's Champions League clash between Zenit St Petersburg and Juventus will go ahead despite an explosion in the Russian city this morning.

Three people, including a child, were killed when a grenade exploded near a metro station close to the Russian team's training ground and approximately 10 kilometres from the Juventus team hotel.

Heightened security measures were immediately put in place by the Minister for National Emergencies and reports suggested the government could ask Uefa to postpone the match.

But European Football's governing body believe the game will go ahead although they admit they are keeping a close eye on the situation.

"At the moment there's no likelihood at all that the game will be postponed," a Uefa spokesman told PA Sport. "Everything points to it going ahead as normal.

"Obviously we're monitoring the situation and we're in close contact with people over there.

"But we have had no requests to postpone the game."

The device exploded in a taxi at 8:55am local time, killing all three of its passengers and seriously injuring the driver.

Uefa director of communications William Gaillard admitted that the Russian government would have the final say on whether the game will go ahead as scheduled.

"We have not received anything at the moment," he told PA Sport. "But obviously the decision rests with the government.

"They are sovereign over what happens on their land. Their say is final on events in their country."

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