October 4 – Expressing its ‘upset’ at UEFA’s readmission of Russian youth teams to European competitions, the Ukrainian FA (UAF) has again called on European countries to boycott any matches against Russian teams.
In a letter to Fifa, Uefa and Uefa’s member associations, the UAF again decries the European Confederation’s controversial decision to welcome back Russia’s U-17 teams in European competitions and demands member associations to boycott matches against Russian teams.
“In the light of the most recent decision, the Ukrainian Football Association appealed to all Uefa member associations to join a boycott of any matches against Russian teams,” writes the Ukrainian FA in the letter.
“The football associations of England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Romania have already officially announced such a boycott. Several other countries – Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Estonia – have announced that they are waiting for further explanations from Uefa. Uefa’s own reasoning dictates that its statutory objectives require the recent decision to be reversed.”
UEFA’s lifting of the blanket ban on Russian teams that was imposed after last year’s invasion of Ukraine prompted a backlash with some member associations clearly stating that they will not play Russian teams. Sweden, hosts of the U-17 women’s finals next year, went further and said it would bar Russian players from entering the country.
UAF attacked the way UEFA and certain executive committee members have used the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to justify the readmission.
“We emphasize that it is Ukrainian children who are affected by this war, not Russian children, whose sole disadvantage is to be denied international competition within Europe,” read the letter.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, hundreds of children – from newborn to youngsters – have been killed, thousands have been injured and over 3000 crimes against children have been established, including cases of sexual abuse. At least 19,000 children have been kidnapped from Ukraine and taken to Russia; For those who have survived and remain, missiles and shells continue to fly over their heads, and children are forced to spend hours in cold underground bomb shelters and have precious little opportunity to enjoy the freedoms enjoyed by those in the Russian U-17 teams, who live and train in warm safe and peaceful cities.”
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