According to UEFA’s decision: Numerous associations want to boycott games against Russia

UEFA wants to let young teams from Russia play again. Numerous European associations have announced a boycott of such games. The DFB is still silent.

The national associations of England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway and Finland announced on Wednesday (September 27th, 2023) that they would not compete against Russian teams in a corresponding draw. Sweden’s association announced that, as hosts of the U17 European Women’s Championship in 2024, it would not allow a Russian team to take part if it qualified successfully.

The UEFA Executive Committee announced on Tuesday that it would allow Russian youth teams back into their competitions. The teams are not allowed to compete in their countries and are not allowed to play in their official jerseys; anthems and flags are prohibited. The suspension of all other Russian teams, both club and national, was confirmed.

Sweden does not want to allow Russia to take part in the U17 European Championships

“The UEFA Executive Committee’s statement surprised me”Poland’s association president Cezary Kulesza wrote to X and clarified. “If Russian national teams are allowed to take part in the competition, our national teams will not play against them. This is the only right decision.”

The English association told Reuters that its position remained unchanged: “England’s teams are not playing against Russia.” Lithuania’s association president Edgaras Stankevičius said: “If draws result in games against Russia, our players will not enter the field. Regardless of what sanctions the association faces and regardless of where the game is to be played.” Latvia and Finland reiterated the same position.

In 2024, the men’s U17 European Championships will take place in Cyprus and the women’s U17 European Championships in Sweden. “We will not allow a potentially qualified Russian national team to take part in this tournament”, said Sweden’s association. The 2024 Men’s U17 European Championship will take place in Cyprus. The Ukrainian association called on UEFA to reconsider the decision and announced a boycott of any games against Russia. The procedure “Tolerate Russia’s aggressive policy”.

Would the DFB play against Russian teams?

The sports show asked the German Football Association (DFB) whether it would send its youth teams onto the field against Russia if a draw resulted in a clash. The DFB initially did not answer the question.

Hans-Joachim Watzke, managing director of Borussia Dortmund, was elected to the UEFA Executive Committee in April in his role as DFB vice-president. The DFB also left the question of Watzke’s voting behavior unanswered.

In addition to Watzke, Bayern Munich’s supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also sits on the executive committee as a representative of the club association ECA. When asked, the ECA has not yet commented on its voting behavior. UEFA itself did not comment on the exact balance of votes in the Executive Committee when asked.

Executive Committee staffed by Gazprom managers from Russia

The UEFA Executive Committee consists of 17 men and one woman. These include representatives from England, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine. Alexander Dyukov, Russia’s association president, still sits on the executive committee. Since UEFA only suspended the teams and not the association, Russia is essentially a full member of UEFA. Dyukov, a manager at a Gazprom subsidiary, sits on the executive committee with voting rights. When asked by Sportschau, UEFA did not initially specify the exact voting behavior.

Norway’s association president Lise Klaveness criticized the process. “We were not aware that UEFA would be dealing with the matter this week and we must expect better action from UEFA on such an important matter.”said Klaveness. There are currently two empty chairs on the Executive Committee. Spain’s association president Luis Rubiales resigned after his assault against a player. According to information from Sportschau, Javier Tebas gave up his place as a representative of the European league association, and no successor has yet been arranged for either of them.

MEPs: “Age doesn’t matter – the decision is dangerous”

“Children and young people should not be punished for the actions of adults”, UEFA justified its actions. A generation of young people are being deprived of the right to take part in international football competitions. Norway’s association leader Klaveness said they did not agree with the argument: “We believe that in this extraordinary situation it is too difficult to separate national team football from the nation of Russia and that the regime will use top-level football as part of its propaganda.”

European MP Viola von Cramon (The Greens) also contradicts this in an interview with Sportschau. “Regardless of how old the players are, Russia uses the stage for its own propaganda”says von Cramon. “This allows Russia to send the message: ‘We are not politically isolated, we can participate.’ “Russia is looking for any evidence that it has political legitimacy. That’s why UEFA’s decision is dangerous.”

A messy situation now arises for UEFA. Does it enforce the participation of Russian teams and thus sides with Russia or does it act differently and therefore against its own decision? “A lack of clear decisions leads to such dead ends”says von Cramon. “It would have been up to UEFA to set the policy. If they had taken the lead and said they didn’t want an aggressor state in their competitions, there wouldn’t be this debate with these consequences.”

UEFA and FIFA initially wanted to let Russia play “neutrally” in 2022

After Russia began its war of aggression with the help of Belarus, FIFA and UEFA initially decreed that Russia could only play as a “neutral team” under the name “Football Association of Russia”. At that time, the European play-offs for the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar were coming up. Poland’s association president said at the time: “We won’t play against Russia, no matter what the team is called.” Russia’s other potential opponents, the Czech Republic and Sweden, followed this stance. A day later, FIFA and UEFA suspended teams from Russia from all competitions. Since then, Belarus has only been allowed to compete outside its own borders and without fans.

UEFA also withdrew Saint Petersburg from its allocated 2022 Champions League final and terminated a sponsorship agreement with Gazprom.