ISTANBUL, Nov 28: Turkey said on Friday it would appeal to international arbitrators to reverse UEFA’s decision to move a Champions League match to a neutral venue after a spate of devastating bomb attacks struck Istanbul this month.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and other officials have lashed out at European’s soccer governing body for moving Galatasaray’s match against Juventus, initially due to be played on Tuesday, and Besiktas’s game against Chelsea in two weeks to later dates and outside of Turkey.

Groups linked to the al Qaeda network have claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in two days of attacks that killed 61 people and wounded hundreds more.

“The (UEFA) decision is a big blow to the international platform against terrorism,” Erdogan told reporters after meeting Turkish Football Federation officials and club owners.

“The ruling allows international terrorism to use UEFA as an arena to get out its message.”

Erdogan said it was too late to appeal against the decision to change the Galatasaray match, which is now set for December 2 in Dortmund, Germany, but that the federation would apply to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn UEFA’s ruling on the Besiktas-Chelsea game.

“Our federation will go to CAS on behalf of our club Besiktas ... We will seek our rights at this higher court.”—Reuters