Russia reject Warsaw calls to move squad
Reuters - Wednesday 23 May 2012, 16:52
Russia has rejected calls by
Polish officials seeking to move their Euro 2012 squad from a
Warsaw hotel near a rallying site for rightist groups accusing
Moscow of a cover-up related to a plane crash that killed
Poland's president.
"We have proposed four other locations to the Russian team,"
said Poland's Sports Ministry spokeswoman Katarzyna Kochaniak.
Russia's national team booked one floor at the
recently-renovated Bristol Hotel, one of the oldest and most
prestigious in Warsaw and neighbouring the Polish presidential
palace.
Rightist activists gather in front of the residence on the
10th of every month to commemorate a crash of a Polish plane in
Smolensk, western Russia, on April 10, 2010, which killed all 96
onboard.
The Russian Football Association said it was not planning to
change the location.
"Our team will stay in the same hotel which was originally
booked. Nothing will force us to change our plans," FA spokesman
Nikolai Komarov was quoted as saying by Russian media.
"We are sure that the tournament's organisers would provide
all the necessary security at the highest level," he added.
The plane catastrophe continues to weigh on bilateral ties
between the two Slavic neighbours as Moscow puts sole blame on
the Polish pilots, while Warsaw says Russian ground controllers
in Smolensk also played a role.
Warsaw also says Moscow is not showing enough goodwill to
return the plane wreck, while Russia says it has to stay on its
soil for as long as an investigation is going on.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the rightist Law and
Justice (PiS) party and the brother of President Lech Kaczynski
who died in the crash, has accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk of
conniving with Moscow to cover up the truth behind the disaster.
Tusk and the Kremlin deny the claims.
Even prior to the crash, relations between Poland and Russia
have been strained over difficult joint history, energy and
security disputes and emotions are expected to run high when the
two A Group competitors play in the Polish capital on June 12.
"We want the event to focus on soccer emotions, while the
dates of June 10 and 12 may prove tense," Kochaniak added.