MOSCOW, Oct 3, Vasily Bogdanov. Former Minister of Sports of Russia Pavel Kolobkov, commenting on the apology of the first vice-president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Swede Karl-Erik Nilsson, for allowing Russian youth teams to participate in international competitions, called on sports officials to stop being cowards.
The UEFA Executive Committee previously allowed Russian youth teams (not older than 17 years) to participate in international tournaments. Women's and men's teams will play matches without the flag, anthem and not on the territory of the Russian Federation. England, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway said their national teams refuse to play the Russians. According to the Sky News channel, despite the refusal of the Swedish Football Association (SvFF), the head of the Swedish Sports Confederation Nilsson and the Italian Gabriele Gravina voted for the admission of Russians to the tournaments. Nilsson later expressed regret that his position on the admission of Russian youth teams was perceived incorrectly.
«»It's time for sports officials to gain courage and stop being cowards. They should be brave and adequate, and not be afraid of their own shadow. The decision was made correctly, and in general all teams should have been allowed in. Since they made it, then stand for him to the end. Well, football officials used to defend their position, and they were replaced by these. We didn’t notice this before, but now we understand a lot about them,” Kolobkov said.
The International Football Federation (FIFA) and UEFA published a joint statement in February 2022, according to which Russian national teams and clubs are suspended from participation in international competitions for an indefinite period due to the events in Ukraine.