The decision by the powerful football associations FIFA and UEFA to reintegrate Russian U17 teams is causing outrage in Ukraine. The invaded country is calling for a boycott, including from the DFB.
The European association UEFA rushed forward, the world association FIFA followed suit on Wednesday (October 4th, 2023): Russia’s U17 national teams are allowed to take part in international competitions again, albeit in neutral jerseys, without a flag, and the anthem is not allowed to be played.
A letter from the Ukrainian Football Association was dated the day before FIFA announced its decision. It is addressed to FIFA, UEFA and all UEFA member associations, including the German Football Association (DFB).
Ukraine “stunned”
In the letter, which is available to Sportschau, the Ukrainian association writes that the decisions for Russia “surprised” and “stunned” it. The argument that Russian children should not be punished for the war of aggression, which initially led to the exclusion of all Russian teams in February 2022, is cynical. It is the Ukrainian children who were “killed and abducted” in their thousands, while Russian children in their homeland were able to do sports, among other things, “in peace.”
The German representatives in the relevant FIFA and UEFA councils also voted for the reintegration of the Russian U17 boys and girls. It was a “51:49 decision” that he had a lot of trouble with, said Hans-Joachim Watzke in the “Interview of the Week” on Deutschlandfunk. DFB Vice President Watzke sits on the UEFA Council, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf on the FIFA Council. His voting behavior is not known, but it is clear from a dry statement from the DFB after the European association’s decision: “The DFB Executive Board has taken note of this (the Russia-friendly vote, editor’s note) and is following UEFA’s decision .”
In this respect, it is also to be expected that a German selection would play against Russian children if the worst came to the worst. The Ukrainian association, however, urgently calls for people to join in the boycott of such games. The associations of England, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Romania have already made a binding commitment to this boycott.
Others, such as Switzerland and the Netherlands, wanted to wait for UEFA to explain its decision in more detail.
In its letter, the Ukrainian association writes that UEFA is contradicting itself by voting for the Russians. In a ruling by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport CASbefore which the Russian Football Association took action against the exclusion, it was stated in July 2022 that the sanctions would apply to Russian footballers “regardless of age”.
“Abductions, Rapes and murders”
Sharp criticism of the football associations also comes from Ukrainian politics. “We call on FIFA and UEFA to use violence and aggression against Russia. Their decisions violate the rights of Ukrainian children,” the sports ministry said.
It goes on to say, similar in part to the letter from the football association: “The children in Ukraine are being deprived by Russia of their right to safe training and, above all, a safe life in their home country without the threat of abductions, rape and murder. The Russian occupation regime kills and continues to kidnap Ukrainian children, destroy civilian infrastructure including stadiums and sports schools and give Ukrainian children no chance of sports or even a normal life. At the same time, UEFA and FIFA are allowing Russian children to compete again, which only reinforces their belief that their country has the right to kill others and thereby do something right.”