Uefa announced at the end of September that Russia’s under-17 national teams will be able to participate in the federation’s competitions, but has now reversed its decision.
UEFA has abandoned plans to allow Russian under-17 national teams to return to their competitions. Uefa announced at the end of September that Russia’s under-17 national teams will be able to participate in the federation’s competitions, but has now reversed its decision.
As a result of the decision, the Russian under-17 boys’ and girls’ teams will not be seen in this month’s EC qualifying tournaments, and at the same time in next summer’s EC final tournaments. The European Championships for girls under 17 years of age are organized in May in Sweden and for boys in May-June in Cyprus.
Uefa justified its previous decision by saying that children should not be punished for the actions of adults.
Among other things, the Ukrainian Football Association immediately announced that it will not participate in competitions in which Russian teams participate. About a dozen national football associations publicly announced their opposition to playing against Russian national teams. The Finnish Football Federation also announced in the X message service that the national teams of Russia and Belarus should not be allowed to participate in international competitions.
Uefa justified the cancellation of its original decision by saying that the participation of the Russian under-17 girls’ and boys’ teams in the qualifying games would be logistically too challenging.
Ukraine thanked UEFA
On Tuesday, Ukraine sent its thanks to Uefa and the national federations that opposed Russia’s return to youth tournaments.
– We thank our European partners for supporting Ukraine. The position of our state was heard. Russian football is still isolated. That’s where it belongs, the Ukrainian Football Association said in its press release.
The international football association Fifa followed UEFA’s decision last week and announced that it would allow Russia’s under-17 teams to return to their competitions. So far, Fifa has not commented on UEFA’s decision on Tuesday.
Russia has been banned from all international football tournaments since the country launched its massive offensive in Ukraine in February last year.
Updated at 7:44 p.m.: Updated throughout