Ukraine to clash Russia in futsal Euro semi-finals

European football governing body UEFA has called on players to deliver a fair contest when Ukraine meet Russia in the semi-finals of the futsal European Championships on Friday.

The pair have been kept apart in group draws since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimea in 2014, but this is not possible throughout the whole knockout phase of a tournament.

Organisers in the hosting Netherlands will, together with UEFA, create a special security plan for the match which will go ahead as scheduled in Amsterdam.

Politically-charged matches in sports tend to pass off with little incident, such as the 1998 World Cup meeting between the U.S. and Iran in France.

In contrast, there is the 1956 Olympic water polo "blood in the water" match between the USSR and Hungary at the Melbourne Games.

It came up shortly after the former crushed an uprising in the latter, and remains one of the most infamous contests in sports history.

Portugal meet Spain in the other semi-final, with the final slated for Sunday in the Dutch capital's Ziggo Dome.