Strike halts Heerenveen's UEFA tie
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Heerenveen's UEFA Cup first round, first leg tie against Maccabi Petach Tikva has been postponed because a general strike in Israel has prevented the Dutch club flying to Tel Aviv.
UEFA gave Israeli officials until 1500 GMT on Tuesday to guarantee that the Heerenveen team and match officials would be able to fly in on Wednesday so the game could start before 1400 GMT on Thursday.
However, that was not possible so UEFA have informed the teams that the match is off. "UEFA will take a decision on Wednesday about the situation," said a statement.
The general strike by 400,000 public-sector employees over a pay dispute has grounded all international air traffic in Israel and paralyzed most public services.
Heerenveen said on their website that they had been assured by UEFA that an exception would be made for their flight on Tuesday, but that proved not to be the case.
The match had already been rescheduled because of Maccabi Tel Aviv's opening Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich last Wednesday.
The second leg of the UEFA Cup tie is scheduled for September 30 in Heerenveen.
The total closure of Israel's airports on Tuesday also led to the non-arrival of Germany's women's basketball team for a European championship qualifier that was also called off.
Israel's men's basketball team managed to beat the closure by taking an earlier flight to Bulgaria for their European Championship qualifier on Wednesday.
Israel's Davis Cup tennis tie with Finland later this week was also affected when Spanish umpire Poncho Ayala was left stranded abroad.
