UEFA’s decision to allow Russian youth football teams back into competitions has cost Swedish UEFA vice-president Karl-Erik Nilsson (63) his position as chairman of the Swedish Sports Federation (RF).
In an RF message he announced his resignation after the pressure at home on the former top referee became too great.
Nilsson voted on September 26th at a meeting of the European Football Union in Cyprus to lift the general ban on football teams from Russia. There was plenty of public criticism for this in Sweden.
It had proven difficult to combine both roles, Nilsson explained his resignation as RF boss. “The recent media attention and focus on me is not good for Swedish sport. The attention has sparked a lot of hatred and personal attacks,” he also said. Nilsson will continue to serve as one of the six UEFA vice-presidents.
Russian U17 teams readmitted
UEFA announced on Tuesday last week that it would allow Russian U17 teams to take part in the association’s tournaments again – but without an anthem or flag. On Wednesday, the world association FIFA followed suit for its competitions and referred to UEFA’s submission.
Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine for over 19 months. Since then, Russian sports associations have been banned from many international competitions. The situation is similar with athletes from the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic of Belarus, which is allied with Russia.