UEFA’s decision to return junior teams from Russia to international competitions is met with resistance in Norway.
Association president Lise Klaveness made it clear that Norwegian teams will not play games against Russian teams.
“We stand by our position that Norwegian teams should not play against Russian teams as long as the war continues,” Klaveness said. The decision of the European Football Union had previously been criticized by the associations of Ukraine and several other countries.
On Tuesday, the UEFA Executive Committee in Limassol, Cyprus, decided to allow Russian U17 teams to take part in competitions again, but without an anthem, flag and games on Russian soil.
Excluding children from competitions is direct discrimination, said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin. The ban on all Russian adult teams, however, should remain in place as long as the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine continues.
Klaveness was quoted in a statement by the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) as saying that they fundamentally supported the stance that children should not be excluded in football and elsewhere. Football should unite, not divide. Nevertheless, the Norwegian association is of the opinion that in the extraordinary situation it is too difficult to separate national team football from the nation of Russia and the Russian leadership’s need to use top-class football for propaganda purposes. One would expect a better approach from UEFA in such an important matter.
Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine for 19 months. Since then, Russian athletes have been excluded from many international competitions.