Even European football schedules have not remained untouched by the armed conflict in South Ossetia. A special UEFA commission decided there was a better venue for the Russia-Georgia qualifying match for the 2009 European Under-21 Championship than Moscow

From the first minutes of the game the stands were surprisingly full, especially taking into consideration that the decision to change the venue became known just two days before the match. Deputy Chairman of The Belarusian Football Federation Association Mikhail Vergienko said, “That is Belarusian hospitality”.

However, seeing teachers leading files of pupils to the stadium before the match makes it obvious that Belarusian hospitality was in large part strengthened with administrative resources. Indeed, most of the audience was under 21, like the players themselves.

Photo by Darya Lunina

It was clear that the main intrigue of the match would not be the score, but the politics that brought it to Minsk. After all it was because of the armed conflict in South Ossetia the UEFA decided to move the game from to Minsk in the first place. Indeed, the stands were full of reminiscences, like banners saying: “NO WAR”, “WE ARE FOR PEACE”, “RUSSIANS AND GEORGIANS MUST BE FRIENDS”, “LAY OFF TANKS AND BOMBS, PLAY FOOTBALL”.

Photo by Darya Lunina

And there was no need to remind the players of anything. “The fact that we are playing with Russians today makes us feel more ”warlike“ Dzhaba Lipatriya from the Georgian team said. Russian midfielder Dmitry Kombarov was as ready for the game as his Georgian counterpart: ”Of course, we want to fight for the victory. Defeat by Georgia in our last game and all those things happening in South Ossetia make us want revenge."
 
One could take these words more seriously watching a scuffle involving all the players on the field in the second half. The emotions ran high after a Georgian player hit Russian Aleksander Prudnikov, who scored twice in the match.

Photo by Darya Lunina

However, most of the Russian as well as the Georgian players don’t think politics changed the course of the game. “Fights happen sometimes, but it’s normal in football. Just watch other games in Europe. Politics has nothing to do with football. We know, there are no good things going on between Georgia and Russia, but football is another matter”, Georgian midfielder Sandro Kobakhidze said.
 
It seems the only person talking seriously about politics was the Georgian Coach Petar Shegrt: “There is no possibility to play for us in Russia. Because many people died in this war and I think that is not a small thing. When thousands of people die I don’t talk about politics, but this is a big problem.”

But even he had to admit that the result of the game were fair. Seven minutes after the kick-off, Russia opened the score and remained in front until the final whistle, beating Georgia 4:0. The victory puts Russia second in Group 4 with 15 points.  Their next game is against leader’s Spain on September, 9. Georgia have six points after seven matches, but can still make it into the play-off if they defeat Poland.

Darya Lunina for RT