The tournament in England, which was postponed from 2021 to 2022 because of the pandemic, is scheduled to start on July 6. The team from Russia, which according to the draw in October 2021 should actually play in Group C against Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden, is also qualified.
After the start of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, the Russian team was suspended like all the rest of the country, but it has not yet been formally excluded from the tournament that starts in three months’ time at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting, nor by any other team replaced.
UEFA President Ceferin: “We will have to make the decision soon”
On the tournament’s website, Russia is still listed as a participating nation on some pages, but elsewhere the team has already been replaced with the placeholder “C3”. But that doesn’t mean a decision has been made yet.
Uefa-President Aleksander Ceferin referred to the process at the International Sports Court CAS, in which the Russian association wants to achieve the lifting of the suspension. “We know it’s urgent. We know the EURO is coming up soon. We’ll have to make the decision soon. But we need more information.”said Ceferin. The next meeting of the Executive Committee is scheduled for May 10th, further meetings could be arranged at short notice. The UEFA Congress is scheduled for May 11 in Vienna.
Important question: Who would move up?
In addition to the pressing time to prepare for the tournament, many structural questions remain. Great Britain has imposed numerous sanctions against Russia, the tournament is hosted by England. The three other associations in Group C had all announced that they would not play against Russian teams when discussing the men’s World Cup qualification.
The question also arises as to who could move up in an emergency. A conceivable solution would be Portugal. This is the team Russia beat in the qualifying playoffs and so the EM– Participation secured. But would that put the other two losing teams in the playoffs at a disadvantage? These are the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The tournament regulations only state that UEFA decides which association will use the pitch “with reference to the previously obtained results” takes over.