UEFA AND FIFA SET TO KEEP ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN APART IN FUTURE QUALIFYING GROUPS

The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Oct 17 2007

BAKU, Azerbaijan: Azerbaijan and Armenia are likely to avoid playing
each other in future European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.

UEFA president Michel Platini said Wednesday it was a "mistake" to
have Azerbaijan and Armenia – which have no diplomatic relations –
in the same Euro 2008 qualifying group.

"We will try that both teams never face each other again," said
Platini, who was in Baku with FIFA president Sepp Blatter for the
opening of the Azerbaijan soccer federation’s new headquarters.

Armenia and Azerbaijan had back-to-back matches in Group A canceled
in September after the two failed to agree on a neutral location. No
points were given for the matches.

Both teams have failed to qualify for next year’s European Championship
in Austria and Switzerland.

Blatter said FIFA would try to avoid teams "with complicated political
relations" being drawn in the same group. Armenia and Azerbaijan
will begin in the same pool when the draw for the 2010 World Cup
qualifying stage is held next month in South Africa, Blatter said,
making it impossible for the two teams to play in the same group.

Armenia and Azerbaijan remain in dispute over the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan but has been controlled
– along with some surrounding areas – by local and Armenian forces
since 1994.