UEFA has confirmed that, for political reasons, Armenia will not be drawn against Azerbaijan (due to the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh) and Georgia will not be drawn against Russia (due to the disputed territory of South Ossetia) in the qualifiers for Euro 2012.[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2012_qualifying I know current Georgia-Russia relationship, they had war in 2008 and broke diplomatic relations... Armenia and Turkey had several historical problems, they were in same group in 2010 World Cup qualifiers, but they could finished matches without conflicts... why can't Armenia and Azerbaijan in same group ??
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are much worse at present than with Turkey. They fought a war in the early 90s for which they are still under ceasefire and there have been several breaches of the ceasefire in recent years. The situation in Azerbaijan is that Nagorno-Karabakh is populated largely by Armenians and desires complete independence from Azerbaijan (a bit like Kosovo with Serbia) so the potential for trouble on the streets is very real and it could easily escalate into something more serious. Having the two play a football match would be a recipe for disaster.
Don't think Cyprus and Turkey will be drawn together either. They have never met so I assume they were always separated from each other.
I was thinking about that today actually. It's possible for them to draw out this group: Croatia Serbia Bosnia Macedonia/Slovenia Montenegro That would be an interesting group!
watched qualifying draw video Armenia were drawn in group A, but moved to group B as Azerbaijan were in group A
Football is some kind of a war nowadays Football is some kind of a war nowadays. Off course, real wars exists but majority of countries live in peace. People need some kind of excitement & illusion. Fights and hate are parts of the game. Thanks Godness it's not a rule. For example Euro 2012 tournament which is co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine. During world war II people from these two countries were killing and murdering each other and now together we can organize European Football Championship.
Re: Football is some kind of a war nowadays I agree with this. For the most part, the players and fans are fine with hosting and playing political enemies. It's the governments that blow things out of proportion. Armenia actually wanted to play the normal home-away series against Azerbaijan in Euro 08 qualifying but Azerbaijan didn't want the Armenians in their country or to have their team go to Armenia. It's very childish if you ask me.
