The Russian Football Federation was very attentive to the UEFA Congress in Lisbon. In the same Aleksander Ceferin was re-elected president of the organization and in his speech he also referred to the matter of Russia, that both the selection and the clubs are still separated from European competitions. Measure ratified by the TAS.
“My personal opinion is that until the war stops, it will be very difficult for us to change anything”, Ceferin said about the matter in the press conference after his re-election. Some expected words, but they have not liked anything in the Russian Football Federation that has responded openly in Sports Express. “Everything was to be expected. The chances of our football returning to the international arena were low and now we have received confirmation of this. What should not have happened happened. The Russian Football Federation (RSU) will have to move in its own way, not look to UEFA. We have to think about the development of Russian football and not close ourselves off from the world. If there is an opportunity to move on, you can watch football in South America, Asia, Africa… There is where to move. We need to continue the dialogue with UEFA, but first of all we need to think about ourselves. It is still unclear who lost more. Europe will continue to persecute us”.
Russia increases the pressure on UEFA since on March 30 at the meeting of the Executive Committee the option of facing Asia was not discussed, but the task of participating in the qualifying phase for the 2026 World Cup, objective Russia in the short term. At the moment it does not seem that there is any progress from the Russian Federation neither with FIFA nor with UEFA.
Belarus case
Ceferin also referred to Belarus, a country from which the organization of the Under-19 women’s European Championship has been removed, but its team and its clubs continue to participate in Europe. “I had said that the issue would be discussed and I had also said that only the executive committee had the decision-making capacity, no one else. We have had a discussion, we have withdrawn the organization of the U-19 women’s European Championship. Later, we will study the situation and we will see what we decide or not in the next executive committee on June 28”.
