"Situation in Georgia - Updated 8th August 14:30 GMT
Due to the situation in Georgia bmi has cancelled the following flights to and from Tbilisi.
BD955 LHR/TBS - 8 August 2008
BD956 TBS-LHR - 9 August 2008
bmi apologises for any inconvenience, but regrets that this situation is beyond our control."
The Russian tanks have arrived
They look like one of my old Meccano fantasies, only with tractor diesel engines.
Come on Georgia
I'd say the Georgia game is not going to happen now, the Georgian president has said that Russia are at war with them (D'uh!) and Ivan has bombed an airport outside Tblisi. (I think) so they're might not be an airport to fly into..
I hope the airlines and travel companies give you boys your money back... they'd be fierce tight not to....
innit though??
If i remember back in 1999 they only postponed the game at the last minute only because the Irish Government refused to let Aer lingus to fly into serbian or macedonian air space so the decision was taken out of Fifa's hands
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You're right and the game was rearranged for the Weds before the Croatia match, Mark Kennedy scored a cracker in Lansdowne, the only qualifier I've missed at home in 30+ yrs as we were in Malta for the double header!
FIFA were reluctant to move the game as Yugoslavia had already played a few home games, however as this is the 1st game of the tournament don't be surprised if UEFA insist on Georgia playing all their home games at a neutral venue. Prague would suit me as thats the route we're flying plastic hammers at the ready
Fair Play died Nov 18th 2009, Stade Francais.
The only positive is that the area seems to be well away from Tbilisi. However I wouldn't be too confident after hearing this:
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told American President George W. Bush while present at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games today that "war has started today" in the region.
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
Im told that in the event of airlines being unable to land due to war that they are legally obliged to refund airfares. Im on the czech airline flight (thursday back sunday morning and on to podgorica) and told that this is the case. If its not war we'll go, if it is we wont .. either way we wont lose out. the disaster will be if the game is played at a neutral venue and then having to get to Montenegro.
Camac Ultras North Terrace Section
Yes I would have thought you would get you money back, afterall the airline would be the one breaking the contract, so don't cancel, insist you still want to fly
Also the airline won't have lost any money, all they have done is make a booking.
There is a possibility the match might not be canceled, but it would be against Russia, not Georgia
Last edited by tricky_colour; 09/08/2008 at 6:13 AM.
There may not be an independent nation named Georgia by the time the scheduled match day comes around.
It's actually only about 100km away...
3 hours by bus under normal conditions (i.e. pre-1992)
http://www.dw-world.de/image/0,,3548080_1,00.jpg
The Russian news is saying that Russian Su25s are bombing Gori (town in Central Georgia) and Georgian troops are attacking Russian peace keeper positions in Ossetia now and trying to take the Roki Tunnel... There are also reports that Abkhazia (northe west region in Georgia) and Adjara (south west near Turkey) are having unrest as the Georgian government is trying to conscript fighters from those regions. I am pretty certain the match will not go ahead now.
If they switch the match to a neighbouring country it would probably be Turkey (maybe Trabzon) or Azerbaijan. Armenia might be an option but they can't play it in Yerevan because on 6th September it's supposed to be Armenia v Turkey which is a high risk match in terms of incident. It could be switched to Baku I guess as the Azeris are away in Wales on the 6th.
Last edited by Closed Account 2; 09/08/2008 at 2:23 PM.
Watching images there on the news, i just pray that the situation is resolved as soon as possible for the sake of the people caught up in it all. It puts things in perspective for those of us worrying about getting our money back for our flights etc.
Yes that is the most important thing really.
But in terms of the match, I would presume that if the alternative venue isn't confirmed within the next week to 10 days the match will be postponed to a later date. Unless that the match is rearranged for mainland Europe i.e. Kiev, Minsk, Prague, the only location I feel that they will play it in that neck of the woods is Baku, which will be quite a pain to get to. Hopefully the FAI annouce something early next week.
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
There are / were night and day trains to Baku from Tbilisi, takes 10-12 hours from what I recall.
The game will either be in Tiblisi as arranged or postponed.
If Georgia were to agree to a neutral venue, they would be forced to play all their home games at a neutral venue, so the logical thing is to postpone it.
A final descision will not be made until the Tues or weds of the week of the game, as they will leave it to the very last minute.
Fair Play died Nov 18th 2009, Stade Francais.
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