Football
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UEFA won't close doors on Georgia-Scotland qualifier

The Tartan Army will not be forced to cancel their travel plans for Scotland's vital Euro 2016 qualifier with Georgia after UEFA backed down on a feared stadium ban.

Kakhaber Tskhadadze's side are due to host the Dark Blues in Tbilisi on Sept. 4.

But crowd trouble during their last home match with Germany in March landed the Georgian Football Federation in trouble with Europe's governing body.

Play was halted twice during the 2-0 defeat to the World Champions as fans invaded the pitch and GFF president Zviad Sichinava admitted there was a real possibility UEFA would order Scotland's visit to the Boris Paichadze National Stadium to be played behind closed doors.

But UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body have decided against imposing a closure order on the 55,000-capacity ground as they instead handed the GFF a €50,000 fine.

The decision will be a welcome boost to the hundreds of Tartan Army footsoldiers who had booked up for the trip months in advance.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan also showed his relief when he tweeted:

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan will hope his side can continue their impressive Group D campaign as they aim to book a place in next year's tournament in France.

The Dark Blues currently sit third in the table on 10 points, one off the top spot and seven ahead of Georgia. Their face the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on June 13 with a warm-up fixture at home to Qatar on June 5.

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