This was announced by UEFA on Monday (May 2nd, 2022). Russian teams will not participate in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League in the 2022/23 season. Russia has also been excluded from the women’s European Championship 2022. The application to host the 2028 or 2032 men’s European Championship has been declared invalid.
Russia’s bid put UEFA under pressure
On February 28, UEFA and FIFA suspended Russian teams in view of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine – but not the association, which made the EM bid possible in principle. Subject to an appeal by the Russian side, the remaining applications are:
- 2028: A British-Irish bid (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland) and Turkey
- 2032: Italy and Turkey
With the bid, Russia put UEFA in an awkward position where it became clear that they had only punished the teams and not the association. UEFA justifies the rejection of the application with its application regulations. It states: “Every bidder must ensure that they do not act in a way that could bring UEFA (…), the bid process or European football into disrepute.” In addition, the host must be guaranteed the right to start, which is currently not possible due to the suspension of the Russian teams.