January 27 – UEFA have refused to confirm reports that they are brokering a separate deal for clubs playing in the controversial annexed region of Crimea.
Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has been quoted as saying that UEFA is planning to set up its own directly administered championship in the disputed region as a compromise solution after it banned Crimean clubs from playing in Russian competitions.
UEFA has deemed the peninsula a “special zone” but UEFA’s general secretary Gianni Infantino refused to be drawn further at a news conference following’s Monday executive committee meeting.
“Both associations have respected the UEFA decision (to ban Crimea clubs) which was not easy,” said Infantino. “We are trying to find the best way for people in Crimea to play football. That’s what we are working on. It’s not an easy task.”
UEFA’s excutive committee comprises members from both Ukraine and Russia, Grigoriy Surkis and Sergey Fursenko, but Infantino insisted the pair were speaking to each other “without any problems.”
“Together we hope we can progress this matter in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, the exco appointed the hosts for a variety of competitions as follows:
• 2014/15 UEFA Futsal Cup finals (Sporting Clube de Portugal),
• UEFA Futsal EURO 2018 (Slovenia),
• 2015–17 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament (Poland),
• 2016/17 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament (Georgia),
• 2017/18 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament (Finland),
• 2016/17 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament (Croatia),
• 2017/18 UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament (England),
• 2016/17 UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship final tournament (Northern Ireland),
• 2017/18 UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship final tournament (Switzerland),
• 2016/17 UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship final tournament (Czech Republic)
• 2017/18 UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship final tournament (Lithuania).
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