The FC Barcelona basketball team “has decided not to travel to Saint Petersburg” this Thursday, where it had to play a Euroleague game, after the events in Ukraine, despite the fact that it initially reported that it would travel after obtaining “guarantees ” of the Euroleague.
“As a result of the information that has appeared in the last few hours about the war between Russia and Ukraine, FC Barcelona has decided not to travel to Saint Petersburg today,” the Barça club said in a statement.
The Catalan team specifies that “several meetings with the parties involved are planned this afternoon and a decision will be made in this regard in the coming hours.”
FC Barcelona had planned to travel to Saint Petersburg this Thursday, where on Friday it was going to play its first Euroleague game on Russian soil, before playing a second against CSKA Moscow on Sunday.
The Catalan club had previously told AFP that it was traveling, since “the Euroleague has given guarantees.”
Barça assured in another note that they had decided to travel after having “received a communication from the Euroleague informing them that they must play both games in Russian territory.”
Shortly before, however, the Barça player Álex Abrines had expressed his concern about having to make this trip, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Well, I don’t really like having to go to Russia today, really…” Abrines wrote on his official Twitter account, along with an angry face emoticon.
In a statement this Thursday, the Euroleague announced that they plan to meet on Friday to “analyze the course of events and take action if necessary.”
The Euroleague ensures that “it constantly monitors the situation and follows any decision that national and international authorities may take.”
But, for the moment “it will continue with the planned competition calendar unless there is a risk to the integrity of the teams and/or there is a government decision that prevents the normal holding of the matches.” (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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