The leadership of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has softened the sanctions to Russian football, deciding to allow Russian teams no older than 17 years old to participate in international tournaments. We had to wait more than a year and a half for the first relaxation.
UEFA could not do without a couple of unpleasant “buts”: our boys and girls will have to perform without a flag and anthem, as well as national symbols on their uniforms and outside the country. At the same time, the sanctions imposed on adult Russian clubs and national teams will continue to apply until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.
«By preventing children from participating in our competitions, we not only fail to recognize and support the fundamental right to their holistic development, but we also directly discriminate against them. By providing the opportunity to play and compete with their peers from across Europe, we are investing in what we hope will be a brighter and more capable future generation,” said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
Where will our boys and girls play? This is where the problems begin: UEFA needs to come up with a scheme for admitting Russian national teams to tournaments after the draws have taken place. Now it is difficult to imagine how this will be implemented. Especially considering that the qualifying tournament for the 2024 European Championship among players under 17 years of age starts on September 27.
The situation in the selection is as follows: 52 teams are divided into 13 groups of four teams. The Cyprus team automatically qualified for the tournament as the team of the host country, while the Netherlands team will begin participation in the selection for the European Championship from the elite round, since it had the highest seed in the draw. We will soon find out where and how UEFA will find a place for the Russians in the clearly defined structure of the tournament and the pre-set calendar of games.
In response to a corresponding request, UEFA did not say which tournaments our national teams would be allowed to participate in, referring to a previously published release. “At the moment we have no additional comments,” said the press service of the European organization.
The decision regarding the younger generation of Russian football players was not completely sensational. This year, UEFA has actively demonstrated that it is interested in the football development of boys and girls in our country. Otherwise, it would be impossible to imagine holding a UEFA development tournament in Volgograd in May, which was partly financed by the European side.
2026 World Cup is still real As for the statement about the “coming of age” of Russian football, UEFA articulated what was in the air from the very beginning of the sanctions: the streamlined “until further notice” turned into “until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.” This, by and large, does not change anything for our clubs and national teams. Clubs will continue to participate in friendly matches with foreign teams at training camps and during breaks for international games.
As for the country's main team, its coach Valery Karpin a year ago (when the team was not allowed to qualify for the European Championship) clearly expressed his position, from which he did not retreat a single step. «Nobody said that we would be back soon. We need to be ready always. Nobody expected anything different, although they hoped. So nothing has changed. The suspension that happened in March continues until further notice. The national team will gather and play friendlies matches. For football players, this should be sufficient motivation. For me, too, nothing has changed,» he said in September 2022.
The nearest tournament that the Russian national team can get to is the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The European selection for the world championship will start in a year and a half, in the spring of 2025.
A few days ago, the President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Alexander Dyukov, in a conversation with reporters, said that the decision on whether or not to transfer to the Asian Football Confederation must be made before the end of the current year.
«»Does it make sense if we cannot qualify for the World Cup? This requires discussion, because in order to take part in the selection for the World Cup, we need confirmation and agreement from the outside FIFA, which we don’t have at the moment. The chances of qualifying for the World Cup are not lost yet,” he said.
With such introductory information, there is only one thing left — to be patient and monitor the development of the conflict in Ukraine.