Summary
THE Uefa Under-21 qualifiers: a bastion of the corinthian spirit or an epicentre of Machiavellian skulduggery? Those who blindly swear by the former might just be surprised. The truth is that planning the logistics of these campaigns can be a fraught business, particularly when competing nations insist on playing matches in outlying outposts which means three flights for those associations unable or unwilling to finance charter flights. Ahead of Saturday's 2011 campaign opener against Albania, Scotland under-21 coach Billy Stark last night admitted he feels some teams operate this as a deliberate policy, but the SFA would never stoop to that level.
"I think some countries deliberately take you places, " Stark said. "Denmark or Finland you wouldn't have thought would have been three flights, but they play in the north of Denmark so it is three flights. We are an hour and a half up a mountain to play Albania in Elbasan but you have your own standards, and we wouldn't get involved in that kind of thing. Travel and preparation for a game is all part of the learning experience."See the full content of this document
Extract
Stark Shrugs Off 'Skulduggery'
The logistics of the upcoming double-header are certainly rather startling. The upsho...
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