Russia's football federation are angry that England chose Ukraine for the final match to be played at the old Wembley.

Officials in Moscow said they had originally been promised the lucrative match by the English Football Association.

Russia's neighbours were selected for the 31 May friendly, after whcih the famous old ground will be demolished and redeveloped.

"Obviously, we're disappointed how the English FA handled the whole thing," said Alexander Tukhmanov, executive director of the Russian Football Union.

"It was the FA which proposed to us playing the match in the first place. We agreed right away and sent our confirmation, but then they changed their mind. It's really disappointing."

The Russian media have also criticised the FA, with sports daily Sport-Express printing the headline: "England refuse to play Russia in favour of Ukraine".

The paper printed a photocopy of a letter sent by FA executive director David Davies to Russian federation head Vyacheslav Koloskov.

The letter said the FA "have now reached an agreement with another Association to play at Wembley Stadium on May 31".

"You should not always trust the English officials," added the paper.

Russia's team manager Mikhail Gershkovich was also "disappointed" with the news.

"I can only (think) that they just didn't want to face a strong team before the Euro 2000 finals.

"They chose Malta for early May and have now picked Ukraine who I think are a weaker team than Russia."

But English FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said Kevin Keegan's side were not running scared.

"We were considering a number of options but only ever had an agreement with the Ukraine.

"I think everyone would accept that the Ukraine are a very strong side and certainly not an easy game for us."