Russia: Federal Ministry of the Interior opposes DFB stance

The German representatives in UEFA and FIFA have spoken out in favor of a return of Russian youth teams. The Federal Ministry of the Interior calls this “the completely wrong approach”. The Russia question is becoming a crucial test for UEFA – the topic is back on the agenda.

The UEFA Executive Committee will meet on Tuesday (October 10, 2023) at the association headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. On the agenda, which is available to the WDR magazine Sport inside, is the re-admission of Russian U17 teams – with the addition “for approval”. It remains unclear at first whether there will be a new vote.

On September 26, the UEFA Executive Committee discussed the issue of re-admitting Russian youth teams “Yes” answered. DFB Vice President Hans-Joachim Watzke and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, representing the ECA club association, also voted to allow Russian youth teams to play again. “It was a 51:49 decision”, said Watzke on Deutschlandfunk. The FIFA Council later also voted in favor of Russian U17 teams taking part, and according to information from Sport inside, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf also agreed.

Federal Ministry of the Interior: “It’s completely the wrong way”

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for sport, is clearly against the attitude of the German officials. As long as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his war of aggression, “Opening the door to international sports competitions for Russia and Belarus is the completely wrong way”said the ministry at the request of Sport inside. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has repeatedly spoken out against the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. “Also towards UEFA”as the ministry emphasized. “The full solidarity of sport must continue to go to Ukraine.”

Watzke and Rummenigge referred to UEFA’s argument that children should not be punished for the actions of adults. The result is now the exclusion of other children, for example from Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, who are not allowed to take part in tournaments with Russian participation.

UEFA divided – Ceferin under pressure

The issue divides UEFA. While the DFB Presidium announced “to follow UEFA’s decision”, a fifth of the 55 European national associations announced a boycott of possible games against Russia following the Executive Committee’s decision. England, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Romania, Ireland and Denmark as well as Ukraine do not want to play against Russia. It will now be difficult for UEFA to hold functioning tournaments involving Russian youth teams.

This means UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is also under pressure. Many associations were surprised that the topic was not on the agenda during the vote in September, but was then brought up under “miscellaneous” shortly before the start. “We were not aware that UEFA would look into the matter and we must expect better action from UEFA on such an important matter.”criticized Norway’s association president Lise Klaveness.

The UEFA Executive Committee currently consists of 17 officials. Among them is Alexander Djukov, still Russia’s association president. Since UEFA only suspended the teams and not the association, Russia is in principle a regular member of UEFA. Dyukov is a manager at a Gazprom subsidiary that is under EU sanctions. He sits on the UEFA Executive Committee with voting rights.

*President
**Vice President

Voting is becoming a political issue in Scandinavia

In some national associations, officials are under considerable pressure because of their voting behavior. Karl-Erik Nilsson, a UEFA vice-president from Sweden, made public his support for the re-admission of Russian youth teams, which was met with great criticism. He resigned as chairman of the Swedish Sports Association and assured that he would continue “to stand for our stance”. Jesper Möller, a member of the executive committee from Denmark, also voted for re-admission, according to information from Sport inside. He is also under considerable pressure in Denmark.

Paradox: Both the Swedish and Danish associations announced a boycott of possible matches against Russia, while the representatives of both countries in UEFA voted for admission. Nilsson and Möller are considered loyal supporters of UEFA President Ceferin.

UEFA U16 tournaments: Russia plays with flag and anthem

According to UEFA, if the U17 teams from Russia are admitted again, they would only be allowed to compete without national symbols, not play under the name Russia and not play home games in Russia. But the Russian association has been showing images on its website for months that look completely different. There you can see photos and videos of youth games decorated with UEFA logos and flags, while the Russian anthem is played and all national elements such as flags, emblems on jerseys or pennants can be seen.

When asked by Sport inside, UEFA said: “These are friendly U16 development tournaments, not official UEFA competitions. They are therefore not prohibited by the sanctions imposed on Russian teams.”

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 playoffs 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.