February 25 – Russian Football Union (RFU) president Alexander Dyukov will not retain his seat on the UEFA Executive Committee (ExCo), one of Europe’s most influential football bodies.
On Monday, UEFA released the list of candidates for the ExCo elections that will take place in six weeks in the Serbian capital Belgrade at the organisation’s congress. Dyukov was not included, and will not stand for reelection.
The Russian serves as the chief executive of Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft. He has been on the sanctions list of the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia following his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
UEFA and FIFA also banned Russia from the global game after several European countries refused to play the country. The European governing body also dropped Gazprom as a sponsor, which was put on the EU’s sanctions list.
He has, however, attended UEFA meetings since the beginning of the war. Last year, he was also part of the Russian delegation at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) President Lise Klaveness will stand. The former Norway international will run for a new quota place for women on the committee.
At the 2023 UEFA Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, she failed to get elected for a regular seat on the UEFA ExCo, but Europe’s governing body has now introduced a second female seat.
The president of the NFF is a staunch and outspoken campaigner for human rights and player welfare and admitted that two years ago she did not really stand a chance to get elected.
There are eleven candidates for seven positions that boast a four-year term, including Switzerland’s Dominique Blanc, Finland’s Ari Lahti and Portugal’s new FA chairman Pedro Proença, who served on the European Leagues body. Estonian FA president Aivar Pohlak also passed the governance checks.
UEFA wrote in a statement that the “candidates have successfully passed the requisite eligibility check carried out by an electoral committee composed of members of the UEFA Governance and Compliance Committee, in accordance with Article 21(6) of the UEFA Statutes and Article 4bis of the Regulations Governing the Implementation of the UEFA Statutes.”
Gabriele Gravina of Italy and Hans-Joachim Watzke, Germany’s most powerful football official, will stand for re-election.
Football legend Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine is among five candidates competing for two seats that have two-year terms.
Shevchenko may be considered a frontrunner given his status as a former player and the importance of Ukraine to Europe. It leaves the field open to Vadims Ļašenko of Latvia, Rafael Louzán of Spain, Bjorn Vassallo of Malta and Moshe Zuares of Israel for one final seat.
Zuares serves as the FA president of the Israel Football Association. The Israelis will be keen to get a seat on the top table of European football to consolidate their influence and position. UEFA and FIFA did not ban Israel following the war on Gaza in response to the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.
At last year’s UEFA Congress, general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said the comparison with Russia’s ban did not hold: “They are two completely different situations between the two countries. Don’t forget the start of the war, you mentioned Ukraine, and the start of what is happening now, which is regrettable now, in the Middle East.”
Contact the writer of this story Samindra Kunti at moc.l1740495657labto1740495657ofdlr1740495657owedi1740495657sni@i1740495657tnuk.1740495657ardni1740495657mas1740495657