Lithuanian footballers would not give up the idea to come to Grozny

The Football Federation of Lithuania (FFL) has confirmed the participation of its national team in the match with the second Russian national football team, to be held at the Grozny stadium "Akhmat-Arena" on November 12.

Mindaugas Lashas, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Lithuania, called on the LFF to carefully evaluate, prior to choose a place for their matches abroad, the security situation in the locality, where they intend to send their athletes.

Meanwhile, Robertas Tautkus, the head of the department of national teams of the LFF, is sure that there is no reason to be concerned about the voyage to the capital of Chechnya.

"As a rule, the hosting team should care about the safety of the guests; and we are confident that Russians will cope with the mission. The Lithuanian delegation will stay in Grozny during the visit," said Robertas Tautkus.

According to his story, the Lithuanian football team will bring to Grozny its experimental staff to the friendly match against the Russian second national team. "Basically, it will be the Lithuanian National Team-B, consisting mainly of the players of the Lithuanian championship," said Robertas Tautkus, as quoted by the RIA "Novosti".

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, said in his comment to the statement of the Lithuanian MFA spokesman that "in recent years, Grozny has hosted numerous sporting events of world-level, where, by the way, Lithuanian athletes also took part."

"We held football matches with participation of world stars, and international forums, where world-renowned artists performed. During these events, no offences were fixed; and at the Akhmat Kadyrov Stadium there were not a single case of disrespect to football fans from other regions. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the level of crime in the Chechen Republic is the lowest in Russia," said Kadyrov.

Earlier, Sergey Fursenko, President of the Russian Football Union, had promised to Ramzan Kadyrov to bring to Chechnya, after the opening of the new stadium "Akhmat-Arena", an international match of the Russian national team. He has kept his promise, the "Moscow News" paper writes, noting, however, that not the Dick Advocaat's First National Team will come to Chechnya, but the second team coached by Yuri Krasnozhan.