Spanish government threatens Euro 2012 final boycott
Reuters - Sunday 06 May 2012, 15:05
MADRID, May 6 (Reuters) - The Spanish government would
boycott the final of Euro 2012 in Kiev if Ukraine did not
resolve the case of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko, Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo
was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Spain are the defending champions and favourites for the
continental soccer tournament being jointly hosted by Ukraine
and Poland and the final is due to be played in Kiev on July 1.
"If Spain gets through to that final, there will be no
member of the government present while the case of Yulia
Tymoshenko is unresolved," Garcia-Margallo said in an interview
with ABC newspaper published on Sunday.
Spain would consider not playing the final if there was a
Europe-wide decision for teams to boycott it, he said, adding
that he was in touch with Poland and Germany on the issue.
Tymoshenko, the main rival of President Viktor Yanukovich,
was sentenced to seven years in prison last October for abuse of
office after a trial the West says was politically motivated.
She is in prison in the city of Kharkiv, one of the Euro
2012 venues, and is on hunger strike in protest at what she said
was an assault by prison guards, an allegation denied by the
prison administration.
(Reporting by Sonya Dowsett, editing by Clare Fallon)