18.09.2014 20:08 h

UEFA hopes to solve Crimea club issue 'within month'

European football's top officials said Thursday they wanted to resolve whether or not Crimean clubs can play in Russia or Ukraine within a month, even as Kiev called for sanctions against Moscow.

Russia annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in March and incorporated its football clubs into its third division, but the international community does not recognise Crimea as Russian territory.

Last month, European football's governing body UEFA said it would not recognise the results of games played by Crimean clubs in Russia either.

In a bid to break the deadlock, UEFA hosted a meeting with representatives of the Russian and Ukrainian football federations in Nyon, Switzerland on Thursday.

It was decided that a four-way working group with FIFA would be set up to find a lasting solution and "the deadline we have fixed ourselves is one month from now to come up with a solution," UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told journalists.

Thursday's was "a very constructive and ordered discussion with goodwill shown from both sides," he insisted.

"A solution can be found which would allow football to be played in Crimea... but in a manner which is consistent with the statutes of UEFA and FIFA," he added.

Infantino's optimism was not shared however by Kiev, with Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU) President Anatoliy Konkov calling on FIFA and UEFA Thursday to slap sanctions against Russia for its "glaring violations" of the footballing bodies' rules, including the "illegal inclusion" of Crimean clubs into the Russian league.

Until a permanent solution can be found, UEFA's decision to invalidate Crimean club results in Russia "stands," Infantino also said.