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Champions League: Why is Kairat Almaty v Olympiakos a 15:30 kick-off in the UK?

Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan are hosting Greek side Olympiakos at 15:30 GMT on Tuesday due to time difference issues.

The match is in its own earlier time slot as Uefa does not permit matches to kick-off later than 22:00 in the local time zone.

Kazakhstan is five hours ahead of time in the United Kingdom, meaning that Tuesday’s match kicks off at 20:30 local time.

Kairat have already played six home matches in the Champions League; four in the qualifying round and two in the league phase.

The first three all kicked off at 20:00 local time, and the latter three were all 21:45 local kick-offs.

Since Kairat’s last home match – a 0-0 draw with Pafos on 21 October – the clocks in the United Kingdom and across Europe have gone back one hour.

Therefore, what would have been a 21:45 kick-off prior to the clocks changing has become a 22:45 kick-off.

Kazakhstan themselves do not change their clocks, but are affected by changes to time zones elsewhere.

Kairat’s last two home matches in the league phase against Olympiakos and Club Brugge next month both have 15:30 GMT kick-offs to stay in line with Uefa’s rules on kick-off times, and to avoid any overlapping with the other matches taking place at 17:45 and 20:00 GMT respectively.

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