UEFA has decided to allow Russian under-17 teams to compete in its competitions from this season.
Russia’s national teams and clubs have been banned from UEFA and FIFA competitions since the end of last February due to the invasion of Ukraine.
But UEFA has now said that Russian under-17 sides will be able to take part in boys’ and girls’ competitions because it believes that “children should not be punished” for the conflict and that football “should never give up sending messages of peace and hope”.
The executive committee of European football’s governing body has asked the UEFA administration to propose a “technical solution” that will enable the reinstatement of teams, even when competition draws have already been held.
But matches will be conducted without the Russian flag, anthem, or kit, and they will not take place on Russian territory.
UEFA said the move was not the beginning of an effort to reintegrate Russian teams into its competitions more broadly, insisting its ban on the senior Russian national team and all of its club teams from participating in European competitions would remain in effect until the conclusion of the conflict.
A statement read: “UEFA was the first sports body to react to the war in Ukraine and took decisive action in February 2022 — suspending all Russian teams from its competitions, removing events scheduled in Russia like the UEFA Champions League final in Saint Petersburg and the UEFA Super Cup in Kazan, and cancelling its sponsorship contract with Gazprom.
“However, UEFA is also aware that children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults and is firmly convinced that football should never give up sending messages of peace and hope.
“It is particularly aggrieving that, due to the enduring conflict, a generation of minors is deprived of its right to compete in international football. For these reasons, the UEFA Executive Committee has decided that Russian teams of minor players will be readmitted to its competitions in the course of this season. In this respect, the executive committee has asked the UEFA administration to propose a technical solution that would enable the reinstatement of the Russian U17 teams (both girls and boys) even when draws have already been held.
“All matches of the Russian teams shall be played without the country flag, anthem, national playing kit and not on the Russian territory.
“At the same time, the Executive Committee reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s illegal war and confirmed that the suspension of all other teams of Russia (clubs and national teams) will remain in force until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.”
_The Athletic _reported in January that Russian football teams would remain banned from European competitions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The 2022 Champions League final, originally planned to take place in St. Petersburg, was relocated to Paris. Similarly, this year’s Super Cup, initially scheduled for Kazan, was hosted in Athens.
Russia’s men’s team has not been allowed to take part in Euro 2024 qualifying, while the women’s team were not involved in last summer’s European Championship.
UEFA, meanwhile, has moved next year’s annual congress from Madrid to Paris amid the ongoing fallout of the scandal involving former Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales, who was also a vice-president of UEFA.
GO DEEPER
Isolated and in crisis - the war in Ukraine has damaged football at home too
(Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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