The world football association FIFA has followed UEFA’s example and allowed Russian youth teams to play again. This is the result of a virtual meeting of the FIFA Council on Wednesday (October 4th, 2023). DFB President Bernd Neuendorf is also a member of the committee.
Russian teams will be able to take part again at future U17 World Cups, both men and women, FIFA points out.This lifts the ban on Russian teams taking part in these tournaments“, as it said in a statement.
“The prerequisite for this is that these teams operate under the name ‘Russian Football Union’ and not under ‘Russia‘”. In addition, the Russian flag, the national anthem and also the normal Russian jerseys will remain banned. The teams must instead “play in neutral colors“.
The boycott of numerous countries remains in place
The DFB, in the person of deputy Hans-Joachim Watzke, had already joined UEFA’s decision to return Russian youth teams. Watzke and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was involved in the decision as a representative of the ECA club association, were entirely in line with UEFA’s line of argument that children should not be punished for the Russians’ war of aggression in Ukraine.
Some other European nations, however, supported the Ukrainian association’s call for a boycott. Accordingly, England, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Romania, among others, will not compete against Russian teams.
World Cup this year remains unaffected
The suspension of the club and national teams in the adult sector remained unaffected by the decision, FIFA “once again condemned Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine“. The re-admitted U17 teams should be subsequently integrated into competitions that have already been drawn.
However, the decision comes too late for the U17 Junior World Cup in November. However, the Russian U17 juniors could now qualify for the World Cup next year.