Ukrainian Club Players Massively Poisoned Before Champions League Match

Eight players and seven staff members of the Ukrainian club Dnipro-1 have been poisoned ahead of the second leg of their Champions League qualifying match against Greek club Panathinaikos. This was announced by Ukraine's national team head coach Oleksandr Kuchers during a post-match press conference.

“They didn’t sleep all night. Some were still feeling unwell in the locker room, but they went onto the field in the second half. Additionally, the defender we substituted in the second half was also feeling bad. He could no longer play. There were many players on the field today who were poisoned,” the coach said.

24tv.ua reports that Dnipro-1 will file an official complaint to UEFA regarding Panathinaikos’s inadequate preparation for the match. According to the source, after training, the players consumed fruit and water that were in the locker room. It was after this that some of them began to show symptoms of poisoning.

The match took place on August 1 in Athens and ended in a 2:2 draw. The Greek club advanced to the next round with an aggregate score, as the first leg ended in a 3:1 victory for Panathinaikos.