Spanish govt pushes for Atletico ban rethink

Spain's government has been lobbying UEFA to force a rethink of a ban on Atletico Madrid staging next week's home Champions League tie against Liverpool, the prime minister said Thursday.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos had made a direct appeal to UEFA president Michel Platini to allow Wednesday's game to go ahead at the Vicente Calderon stadium while the interior ministry had also tried to persuade Europe's governing body to have a rethink.

UEFA on Tuesday ordered Atletico to play their next two European matches at a stadium at least 300 kilometres (200 miles) from Madrid as punishment for crowd disturbances and racist insults against Marseille players during a Champions League match on October 1.

“The government has been concerned by this decision and has been in direct with UEFA,” Zapatero told journalists on the sidelines of an EU summit.

“Minister Moratinos talked to Mr Platini while the interior ministry is preparing to send UEFA a full explanation on why the police action was correct.

“We want them to understand that they have come to a decision on the basis of incorrect information.”

The decision has caused consternation not only with Atletico but also Liverpool, with thousands of fans having paid for flights to watch their star striker Fernando Torres return to his old club.

Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo has reported that UEFA is poised to announce that the match could go ahead in Madrid after all because of the logistical difficulty of staging it elsewhere at such short notice.

Atletico and Liverpool are joint leaders in Group D of the Champions League having both won their opening two matches.