Mutko: Keep politics off the field at UEFA Europa League’s CSKA-Arsenal match in UK

Politics must be left aside and people should be talking only about football after tonight’s quarterfinal match of the UEFA Europa League between Russia’s CSKA Moscow FC and Arsenal FC in London, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday, TASS reports.

The first leg of the quarterfinals between CSKA and Arsenal kicks off on Thursday night at the Emirates Stadium in London. About 500 Russian CSKA football fans are expected to attend the match, which begins at 19:05 GMT (10:05 p.m. Moscow time).

"On the whole, I hope that it will solely be all about football and some 500 of our nationals went there (to London)," Mutko told journalists. "Undoubtedly, I hope that everything will go well, anyhow we will really be captivated by the game and will be discussing the match and nothing else."

"The club (CSKA Moscow) issued certain instructions to everyone going there, so they are all aware of everything," the official stated.