Fans were looking forward to Manchester United's superstar Cristiano Ronaldo meeting PSG’s Lionel Messi in the last 16. Picture: Oli Scarff, AFP
PARIS – The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League is to be "entirely redone" after a technical error, European football's governing body Uefa said on Monday.
Uefa blamed a "material error" due to a "technical problem with the software of an external service provider" as it announced that the draw for the first knockout round of its flagship competition would be redone at 16:00 SA time.
Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 13, 2021
“Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16,” Uefa tweeted from the @ChampionsLeague account on Twitter.
“As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone.”
In the first draw, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain were paired together, with fans looking forward to a duel between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Six-times former winners Bayern Munich were set to play Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.
AFP