On Monday, the first vice-president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the head of the Swedish Sports Confederation, Karl-Erik Nilsson, made an unexpected statement, completely abandoning his position on allowing young Russians to participate in international competitions.
On September 26, the UEFA Executive Committee allowed Russian youth teams (not older than 17 years) to participate in international tournaments. It was decided that matches between women's and men's teams would be held without the flag, anthem and not on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to the Sky News channel, Nilsson and Italian Gabriele Gravina voted for the admission of the Russians. Three of the five vice-presidents of the organization spoke out against it — Pole Zbigniew Boniek, Britons David Gill and Laura McAllister.
The Russian Football Union (RFU) welcomed UEFA's decision. The general secretary of the organization, Maxim Mitrofanov, stated:
«»The important thing is that the UEFA Executive Committee made such a decision. This is not an easy job, we assess this decision positively, this is a great achievement, which indicates a certain change in UEFA's position. It is clear that there is a lot of work ahead, let's continue it. This is not an easy situation, and colleagues are taking steps towards us.”
Nilsson skillfully changed his shoes, saying that his verdict on the admission of Russians was misunderstood.
«I regret that my position within UEFA and the decision taken have been interpreted to mean that I, as a representative of the Swedish Sports Confederation and the Swedish sports movement, do not continue to defend our common position. This is true. However, I understand that UEFA wants to check whether we are doing the right thing thought from the point of view of children in order to eliminate the risk that they could be punished for acts of violence committed by adults,” the website of the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) quotes Nilsson as saying.
How could a previously documented opinion be misunderstood Nilsson on such an important and responsible issue remains a mystery.
Sweden started the mess. By the way, it was at the instigation of the Swedes that a new anti-Russian campaign in European football began. In 2024, this country should host the European Championship among girls under 17, for which Russians have qualified. Immediately after the UEFA decision, SvFF announced that it would not allow our team to participate in the tournament. Later, the decision about the reluctance to meet with Russian teams of all ages was made in England, Poland, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway.
After such demarches, Mitrofanov spoke out like this: “The reaction of the Danes, Swedes and others? By and large, you see that the situation is initially politicized, and the position of some countries is a fairly predictable story. Whatever position the political leaderships of countries adhere to, the same position is forced to adhere to national sports associations, including football.»
Looking for a compromise It is not so easy for the UEFA leadership, unlike Mr. Nilsson, to back down and abandon their decision. Such inconsistency in actions will severely damage the organization's reputation. In addition, by turning into reverse gear, UEFA will clearly confirm that in its activities it does not adhere to sporting principles, but follows in the wake of world anti-Russian political trends.
According to Sky News, the UEFA leadership pointed out to the protesting federations the inconsistency in opposing Russia’s return to youth tournaments. The organization also emphasizes that in July the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine lifted the ban on the participation of Ukrainian athletes in international competitions with athletes from Russia and Belarus performing in a neutral status.
According to the honorary president of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov, it will not be easy for UEFA to find a way out of the difficult situation. After all, having said “a”, you must also say “b”.
““The decision of the UEFA executive committee on admission pleases us, but how to implement it was not said,” the interlocutor noted. “And the technology for its implementation is absolutely incomprehensible.”
At the same time, the highly experienced functionary urged not to pay attention to Nilsson’s statement.
“There is no need to react to this. He stated and stated, the main thing for me is that there is a UEFA decision. And who will comment on what, I don’t care interested. Such protests will not affect the admission of our teams in any way. The decision was made by the UEFA executive committee, and neither the British, nor the Swedes, nor anyone else can cancel it,» Koloskov emphasized.
International Football Federation (FIFA) and UEFA in February 2022, they published a joint statement according to which Russian national teams and clubs were suspended from participation in international competitions for an indefinite period due to the events in Ukraine.