Football
“We thought UEFA’s intervention would help.” Pyunik told about the refusal of a visa to a Russian player
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Armenian Pyunik Artur Sogomyan confirmed that the Russian defender Mikhail Kovalenko did not fly to Lithuania for the away match of the fourth round of the Football League of Conferences against Zalgiris due to a visa denial.
The match between Zhilgiris and Pyunik will take place on October 13 in Vilnius.
– Unfortunately, Mikhail really did not fly with the team to the away match in Lithuania. The reason is the refusal of the visa. At first, there was the possibility of admission to the match with the Lithuanian team. We turned to UEFA, and the organization provided all the documents and recommendations. We submitted the necessary documents, hoping to still get a visa. Mikhail is important for our team and very much needed in this game. The coaching staff counted on him. But, unfortunately, he and Roman Monarev (senior coach) failed to issue visas.
My reaction? We got very upset. What we can do? Appealed to UEFA, to be honest, the second time already. Before that, there were certain problems with obtaining a visa to Switzerland. But then, after the intervention of UEFA, we managed to resolve this issue. We hoped that this time we would succeed, but such an exception did not happen. The Lithuanian Ambassador to Armenia reassured us and said that he would do everything to obtain a visa. Three days later, everyone was given out, except for two of our team members. Apparently, this is already such a daily rule.
We still have to leave for Slovakia on October 27th. We are afraid that the risks are the same. Because Slovakia has joined the countries that do not give visas to Russians. We will try. Kovalenko and Monarev are very important for us, especially in the away match, Sport24 quotes Sogomyan.
Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia from September 19 banned the entry of Russian citizens with a Schengen visa issued by a third state for tourism, cultural, sports and business purposes.
Source: Sportbox
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