Angry Shakhtar Donetsk have launched a furious attack on UEFA after discovering they have sold the broadcast rights to their Champions League game against Celtic to Russian television channels.
The Scottish champions are due to travel to Poland next week for their second match in the group stage against Shakhtar. Shakhtar have moved all their European games to Warsaw with their home stadium of Donbass Arena not having hosted a game since 2014 and Ukraine unable to host games due to the Russian invasion.
But Shakhtar have been left incandescent with UEFA after Polish media revealed the match against Celtic will go out live on Russian-based Match TV, owned by Russian energy giants Gazprom, who European football's governing body cancelled their contract with after the war started in February. Shakhtar are the only Ukrainian club in the Champions League and stated: "We are furious with this decision. The country of the aggressor must be isolated as much as possible.
"We are opposed not only to the participation of Russian clubs in European competitions, but we also call for Russia to be excluded from all international competitions, including those under the aegis of UEFA and FIFA.
The world sports community must finally unite on this issue and exclude Russia from all organisations and block its cooperation with sponsors. Especially when it comes to selling television rights."
Shakhtar earlier revealed the match against Celtic is heading for a sell-out, with only 2,500 tickets left of the 31,800 available at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego.
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