THE SFA have been urged to challenge UEFA over the “disgraceful” decision not to allow Scotland supporters to attend the World Cup qualifier against Belarus in Hungary later this year.
The Group C match will take place at the ZTE Stadium in Zalaegerszeg, which is 135 miles away from capital Budapest and 67 miles from the nearest airport in Graz in Austria, on September 8 as the host nation has been banned from playing at home.
European football’s governing body have forced the pariah state to stage their internationals at a neutral venue behind closed doors since back in 2022 due to their government’s support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the move has incensed members of the Tartan Army, who will watch Steve Clarke’s side play in their opening qualifier against Denmark in Copenhagen three days earlier, as it is one of just three away games they have during their campaign.
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John Grigor, a founder member of the Ally MacLeod Tartan Army in Ayr, is also concerned that it could hand an unfair sporting advantage to their section rivals and would like to see the SFA make representations to UEFA.
“I think it’s a disgraceful decision,” he said. “To me, it puts Scotland at a massive disadvantage to the other teams in the group as the ban on travelling fans may be lifted before the other teams have to play them, before Denmark and Greece have to travel away.
“I don’t think they should be allowed to stay in the tournament if no fans are allowed to go and see them play. Russia aren’t allowed to enter qualifying and for me neither should Belarus.
“It wouldn’t bother me if we had to go to Belarus. I am 66 now and I started going to watch Scotland play away back in the 1970s. I have travelled the world watching my country play and I have never been mistreated anywhere.
“We have 143 members from all over the country not just Ayr and we haven’t ruled out going straight from Denmark to Hungary after the game even though we’ve been told we can’t get into the game. There is always that hope that when you get there they will say, ‘You’re here anyway so just go to the game’.
“We haven’t booked return flights from Denmark yet. We have worked out the venue is about 135 miles to the south of Budapest. So it is doable. I think a lot of Scotland fans will end up travelling to the venue anyway.”
“As I say, if fans aren’t allowed to attend their matches then they shouldn’t be allowed to compete in the tournament. The whole thing is wrong. I know that Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in front of spectators. So why can’t their football players?
“But my main issue is that it is our second qualifier and I think not having any fans in attendance might be detrimental to the team. I think if we were allowed to attend we would take between 3,000 and 4,000 fans over there with us.”
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Northern Ireland were in the same situation as Scotland in October last year. They had to play a Nations League match at the ZTE Arena in Zalaegerszeg with no fans in attendance. The game finished goalless. At the time, UEFA explained why they had banned fans from the game. "All Belarusian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA competitions play their home matches at neutral venues,” a spokesman said. "Furthermore, no spectators shall attend matches in which the teams from Belarus feature as host. The UEFA Executive Committee took the above decision in March 2022 due to safety and security reasons and the decision still applies to all UEFA matches." The SFA were approached for comment.
