2023-12-20 18:21:23
After months of thinking and threatening to leave the old continent’s federation, which excluded it from its competitions following the Russian forces’ invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian Football Association voted to refuse to join the Asian Confederation and to leave its European counterpart (UEFA) on Wednesday.
“We decided not to move (from the European Union) to Asia. Everyone unanimously supported this decision,” Russian TASS news agency quoted the federation’s vice president, Akhmad Aydamirov, as saying.
Mikhail Gershkovich, a member of the Executive Committee of the local game federation, said, “We voted unanimously once morest it (exit) because there are no guarantees from (the International Federation) FIFA,” to accept this change, in his interview with the Russian agency.
He added, “We decided to continue contacts with the European Union, and we will see how the situation develops next year.”
The move to the AFC might have had major financial consequences for the Russian clubs.
At the beginning of the year, a working group was established with the European Union to discuss the possibility of Russian clubs returning to European competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Conference League), and the return of teams to continental championships.
No Russian club participates in the European Championships, and Russia has not participated in the 2024 European Cup qualifiers, which Germany will host from June 14 to July 16.
The Russian Federation was excluded from participating in the tournaments organized by the European Union on February 28, 2022, four days following the Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
Since then, the debate has raged in Russia between those demanding an exit from the European Union at the risk of not being able to return, and defenders of the status quo waiting for the end of the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions.
UEFA had allowed the Russian under-17 teams to return to its competitions, a decision that did not satisfy Ukraine and its ally Poland, which raised fears that the two countries’ federations would boycott European competitions.
The Continental Union retracted this decision, because “no technical solution was reached to allow the Russian teams to play.”
The Ukrainian Federation was quick to welcome the continental federation’s decision, saying, “UEFA will not allow Russian teams under the age of 17 to compete. We thank our European partners for their support for Ukraine.”
The decision issued in September would have allowed all Russian under-17 teams, male and female, to return to European Union competitions “during this season… even if the draw (for its competitions) had been conducted.”
However, the European Union said at the time that Russian teams would not be able to play on home soil, nor would they be allowed to raise the country’s flag, play its anthem, or wear national sports uniforms.
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