Russian volleyball teams will not fly to Turkey, matches in Men's Champions League onhold

Russia on Monday banned its voleyball clubs from going to Turkey in the men's Champions League in volleyball due to 'security' reasons.

According to the Russian state news agency, TASS the Secretary-General of the Russian volleyball Federation (IEF) Alexander Yaremenko and his committee held talks with the European volleyball Confederation (CEV) in which the Russian side cited safety concerns as the reason behind their decision.

"In their statement, the CEV [European Volleyball Confederation] told our federation that the two clubs' Russian opponents will not play in Turkey," Turkish Volleyball Federation President Özkan Mutlugil said. "The procedure says the Turkish teams should win by the decision of the referee by 3-0."

It is not yet certain whether the matches will be postponed or that Russia will default.

Turkey's Arkas Spor İzmir – Belogorie Belgorod (December 1) and Ziraat Bankası Ankara – Dinamo Moscow (December 2) were set to play against each other.Belogorie Belgorod and Dinamo Moscow canceled fixtures in the men's Champions League against Arkas Spor Izmir and Ziraat Bankasi Ankara respectively, according to European and Turkish authorities.

On their website, Belogorie said they had applied to play their match on Jan. 13.

Turkey's Halkbank Ankara traveled to Russia on Monday for a game in the same league against Zenit Kazan on Wednesday.

The downing of a SU-24 bomber on Nov. 24 has led to Russia announcing sanctions against Turkey and calling for tourists to boycott Turkish resorts.