Nyon (dpa) – Teams from Ukraine and Belarus will not play against each other in the competitions of the European Football Union for the time being. The UEFA Executive Committee announced this extended decision.
At the beginning of March, it had already been decided that no games could be hosted in Belarus for the time being and that home games of the Belarusian national team would have to be closed to the public.
“Today’s decision was taken to ensure the smooth running of UEFA competitions as the safety of teams, officials and others involved cannot be fully guaranteed due to the current armed conflict,” UEFA said.
The former Soviet republic of Belarus has so far not actively participated in the Russo-Ukrainian war. However, Russian troops used the country as a deployment area for the attack. Ukraine therefore does not see Belarus as neutral and fears that Belarusian soldiers could potentially intervene in the conflict on the part of Russia.