Utah Jazz cancel fixture in Moscow
MOSCOW, Russia -- The NBA's Utah Jazz have cancelled their trip to Moscow to play Russian champions CSKA, citing security concerns.
CSKA said on their website that the NBA club had decided to call off next month's pre-season game in Moscow following "recent tragic events in Russia."
The Jazz, who boast NBA All-star and former CSKA forward Andrei Kirilenko on their roster, were scheduled to face the Moscow club on October 8 during their first visit to Russia.
More than 300 people, half of them children, died this month during a siege of a school in Russia's southern town of Beslan where Chechen extremists had held more than 1,000 hostage.
Chechen militants have also claimed responsibility for an earlier series of attacks, including the crash of two passenger planes and a bomb blast outside a Moscow metro station.
CSKA president Alexander Gomelsky regretted the decision.
"We're very sorry to find out that the NBA chiefs have decided to cancel the game," said the legendary coach, whose Soviet Union team beat the U.S. on their way to winning the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
He said the Moscow government had given assurances for the safety of the American team.
"Unfortunately, the NBA decided otherwise," he added.
Gomelsky said his club had travelled to Israel last May in similar circumstances to play in the Euroleague's Final Four.
"Israel has a similar situation, but it did not stop them from hosting the Final Four without any problems," he said.
However, Gomelsky did not rule out playing the Jazz next year.
It would have been the first visit to Russia by an NBA club since 1988 when the Atlanta Hawks played a three-game series with the Soviet national team.
