Moscow, July 5 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Anzhi Makhachkala supporters are to hold a demonstration on Saturday to protest UEFA’s decision to strip the club of hosting rights for Europa League games, a fan club spokesman told R-Sport.
Guus Hiddink’s team qualified for the tournament by finishing fifth in the league last season, but UEFA banned the Russians from holding their home matches in Dagestan due to the threat of terrorism.
The location of the protest is Makhachkala’s Dinamo Stadium, where the club holds its home matches, and among those in attendance will be local officials also unhappy at UEFA’s move, the spokesman said.
Anzhi players including stars such as Roberto Carlos and Samuel Eto’o live and train in Moscow, and fly south for each home game.
Dagestan is seen as a hotbed of terrorist activity and the origin of several deadly attacks over the last few years.
As recently as May, 14 people were killed and 122 wounded in suicide blasts in Makhachkala.
Militants from the regions were blamed for the double suicide blast of the Moscow subway in 2010 that killed 40 people.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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