Unanimously. On Wednesday (December 20), the Russian Football Federation (RUS) announced that all its members voted against a departure from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to the Asian Confederation (AFC). For months, she had been threatening to leave the European body, which has excluded her from all its competitions since February 28, 2022 – four days after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
“We decided not to move from UEFA to Asia,” said RFS vice-president Akhmed Aidamirov, quoted by the TASS news agency. Everyone unanimously supported this decision.” According to Mikhail Guerchkovitch, a member of the executive committee of the Russian Federation, the vote against won because “there are no guarantees from the International Football Federation [FIFA]”, the body which governs the world football, to accept a change to the AFC.
A move to Asia would also have had significant financial consequences for Russian clubs, so “we decided to continue contacts with UEFA,” Mr. Guershkovitch said. “We will see how the situation develops next year. »
Since February 2022 and the sanctions taken against it, Russia has encountered difficulties in particular with the transfers of its players to European clubs. Forty-four transfers were nevertheless concluded between Europe and Russia, often in significant legal uncertainty.
Russia still absent from European competitions
Established since the start of 2023, a working group was created with UEFA to discuss a possible reintegration of Russian clubs into European competitions (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League) and of Sbornaïa – name of the selection – in continental tournaments.
This season, no Russian club is participating in the European Cups and Russia has not taken part in recent months in the qualifiers for Euro 2024, a competition which will take place in Germany from June 14 to July 14. She was also deprived of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Since these bans, a debate has agitated the world of Russian football on the procedure to follow. This vote puts an end to the debates between supporters of leaving UEFA – at the risk of not being able to return – and defenders of a status quo while awaiting the possible end of the conflict in Ukraine or Western sanctions .
Last September, UEFA authorized the return of Russian teams under the age of 17 to European football competitions because “penalizing the younger generations is not a good thing for the future and peace.” This decision quickly sparked a reaction from Ukraine, which called for “boycotting possible matches involving Russian teams, if they are admitted”. The National Football Federation (AUF) of Ukraine has not yet reacted to Russia’s decision to remain within UEFA.
