Tel-Aviv tie switched to Cyprus

The UEFA Cup quarter-final first-leg match between Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Milan AC will take place on 14 March 2002 at the GSP stadium in Nicosia, Cyprus, it was announced today by UEFA, European football's governing body.

Return leg as scheduled
The kick-off time for the match, switched from the Israeli city by UEFA earlier this week for security reasons, will be confirmed at a later stage. The GSP stadium, home to Division A side APOEL Nicosia FC, has a capacity of 22,000 and is just a 25-minute flight away from Tel Aviv. The return leg will be played as scheduled, at 20.45CET at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan on 21 March 2002.

Decision confirmed
The UEFA Emergency Committee, chaired by UEFA President Lennart Johansson, met in Zurich this morning to consider the representations made by the Israeli FA. The Emergency Committee confirmed the decision that the match be played at a neutral venue.

'UEFA's mandate'
Gerhard Aigner, UEFA Chief Executive, said: "It is UEFA's mandate to ensure that the conditions at and around UEFA events do not expose the match participants and those accompanying the teams to any risk of physical harm.

Neutral venue
"UEFA has therefore confirmed its original decision to have next week's UEFA Cup tie staged at a neutral venue and to assess all future matches to be played in Israel on a match by match basis."