Rangers' stance gains support

David Murray insists Rangers will not play in Dagestan

Milan giants AC and Internazionale have backed Rangers chairman David Murray's refusal to play in the unstable Russian region of Dagestan.

And Scottish Sports Minister Allan Wilson has offered his help in the Glasgow club's bid to force the Uefa Cup tie against Anzhi to be moved from Makhachkala.

Uefa insists that the match should go ahead in the city that borders war-torn Chechnya and the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport backed its stance.

But Rangers chairman David Murray has instructed his lawyers to seek every legal avenue possible to challenge the decision by European football's governing body.

Celtic manager Martin O'Neill had already said that his sympathies lay with Rangers and Inter sporting director Giuliano Terraneo said: "If we did not feel our safety was guaranteed, we would do exactly as Rangers have done and refuse to travel then appeal the matter."

Other avenues of appeal

Milan director of communications Vittorio Mentana added: "In Italy, we had a problem when the national team had to go to Georgia, where the brother of one of our players, Kakhaber Kaladze, had been kidnapped.

"Naturally, our association was concerned and they only ended up travelling after the Georgian government guaranteed us 6,000 police and troops just to look after the team."

I still cannot believe that Uefa do not believe in the sincerity of our reservations and that greatly concerns me

David Murray

Uefa postponed its Champions League and Uefa Cup fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday as a mark of respect for the victims of the terrorist bombings in the USA.

A spokesman for the Scottish club told BBC Scotland that the postponement would give them more time to pursue other avenues of appeal, which could lead to a challenge in the European courts.

"We have received detailed information on Uefa's submission to the court, which has brought certain new information to our attention," a statement explained.

If an appeal was not successful, Rangers face being kicked out of the Uefa Cup if they refuse to play on the new date, next Thursday.

Uefa confirmed on Wednesday: "In light of the decision of the court, Uefa now expects the cup match between Anzhi Makhachkala and Rangers to take place in accordance with the rules of the competition."

On Tuesday, Murray branded Uefa's top brass insensitive for trying to force his team to fly into Dagestan.

As the world reeled in astonishment at the news of terrorist atrocities in the US, Murray was standing by his promise to keep his £70m stars at home.

Terrorist car bombs

Although the chairman had already made his stand before the news from across the Atlantic broke, it did nothing but bolster his argument.

Murray said: "The most important thing, and the reason we have gone down the route we did, is the safety of the travelling party.

"I still cannot believe that Uefa do not believe in the sincerity of our reservations and that greatly concerns me."

Murray insisted that an employer's duty to ensure his employees' safety was the most important factor.

The Foreign Office has branded Dagestan as an absolute no-go area for westerners and Makhachkala has seen terrorist car bombs explode near the Anzhi ground over the past few days.