Ukraine refuse to play friendly with Iran

AFP - Ukraine have pulled out of their planned friendly against fellow World Cup finalists Iran, the Ukraine football federation deputy president Vladimir Lashkul told AFP.

The game had been scheduled for March 1 in Tehran.

"Oleg Blokhin (Ukraine's manager) told me that he would prefer a less strong opponent to face in an early warm up match," Lashkul said.

"He also said that a long flight to Iran may prevent his side from performing at their top level."

Lashkul added that he was still seeking an opponent to play on that date.

He also said that Ukraine was planning to play Italy in a frilendly match on June 1 either in Switzerland or in Ukraine, naming Luxembourg as Ukraine's possible opponent in another friendly on June 4 or 5.