© EuroFootball.com
2008 European Championship qualifying group B schedule, where the Lithuanian national team will compete, may have to be reconfigured - the Ukrainian Football Federation announced that they do not agree with the details of the schedule drawn up last week, as they are allegedly too favorable to France.
After last week's meeting of the group countries in Paris and intense negotiations on Friday, all representatives of the countries except Ukraine signed under the schedule, as they did not have the authority to confirm the schedule with their signature.
Although it initially seemed that this would not cause major problems, at the beginning of this week, the Lithuanian Football Federation received a letter from their colleagues in Ukraine stating that they want to change the hosts of the Lithuania-Ukraine matches. According to the initial version, Ukraine was supposed to play away on September 2, 2006, and at home on October 17, 2007, but now it is proposed to switch the matches.
In addition, dissatisfied with the favoritism towards France, the Ukrainian federation especially wants to adjust the matches with the French. As the Ukrainian announcement declares, "such a schedule, under which France could play the last four matches at home, is unfair to all opponents."
The Lithuanian Football Federation staunchly refused to change the schedule, and suggests leaving it as it was negotiated in France. In the letter, the LFF states that if the Ukrainian federation does not agree to leave this schedule and still seeks to change the mentioned matches, the LFF sees no other option but to leave the scheduling in the hands of UEFA.
This Ukrainian decision has upset other B group countries as well. The Faroe Islands Football Association is also angered by the unfairness of the Ukrainian federation. Although the changes to the schedule do not affect representatives of the Faroe Islands, other issues are important to them - they do not have lighting at the stadium, weather conditions do not allow visitors to fly to the island at any time, and the condition of the stadium turf is not always good and depends on the weather.
"Such behavior is simply disrespectful. Representatives of all federations gathered in France to find a suitable solution for all countries. The question arises, who then represented Ukraine, if these individuals did not have the authority to sign after the schedule was drawn up," - states the Faroe Islands Football Association in its official letter.
According to the Italian Football Federation, such a proposal from the Ukrainians is not relevant to them, so they agree to these changes. The French Football Federation, on the other hand, reacted unfavorably, rejecting any changes that they perceive as unfair behavior by the Ukrainians.
After examining all these opinions of the federations of the countries, the Ukrainian Football Federation today sent another proposal, stating that it would be best for representatives of all countries to meet again in Ukraine. According to Alexander Bandurko, vice-president of the Ukrainian Football Federation, this proposal is final.
All countries participating in the European Championship qualifying tournament must reach an agreement on the schedule by February 27 of this year. If they fail to do so, UEFA will determine all the schedule dates and competition venues by drawing lots.
