Galatasaray vs. Juventus abandoned due to snow

ISTANBUL (AP) — The Champions League match between Galatasaray and Juventus was abandoned due to poor weather on Tuesday with the remaining 59 minutes to be played on Wednesday.

Play was halted in the 31st minute with the score at 0-0 as hail and snow began to fall heavily in Istanbul.

Both teams went back to the dressing room as groundsmen tried to clear the lines.

Half an hour later it was decided to postpone the Group B match after "both captains and the referee agreed that the pitch had become dangerous" according to a statement by European football's governing body UEFA.

UEFA later announced the match will kick off at 3 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Wednesday.

UEFA had originally said it would restart at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) but Turkish police sought to have the match put back an hour for safety reasons.

However, further snow is forecast.

Juventus needs a point to qualify for the knockout stage while Galatasaray must win to progress.

It is the third time a Champions League match between Juventus and Galatasaray has been postponed. In 1998 the match was delayed because of anti-Italian sentiment in Turkey over Italy's refusal to extradite Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. It was played a week later in Istanbul.

The match between the two in 2003 was also postponed after terrorist attacks in Istanbul, and was played a week later in Dortmund, Germany.

Juventus's group match against Bayer Leverkusen in 2001 was postponed twice before eventually going ahead — with the Italian team winning 4-0.