KALININGRAD, October 16. /TASS/. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is looking into possible ways to bring Russia’s Under-17 national teams back to international competition, a senior official with the Russian Football Union (RFU) said on Monday.
On October 10, the European governing football body revoked its previous decision to allow Russia’s U-17 national teams to compete internationally. UEFA’s press office announced to TASS later that day: "The agenda point was withdrawn as no technical solution to allow Russian teams to play could be found."
"UEFA’s Executive Board has ordered to make this a priority and the issue is currently under the consideration of the organization’s administration," RFU Secretary General Maxim Mitrofanov told journalists. "There was an instruction to work out the technical details of the whole situation and a solution is now being sought."
"It’s them who need to be asked why information about the suspensions was disseminated. We were not surprised by the boycotts," the RFU official continued.
Speaking about the likelihood of the RFU joining the Central Asian Football Federation (CAFA), Mitrofanov said "the issue of [the RFU] moving to Asia is discussed every day."
"We are a member of UEFA and our priority is to participate in official matches on the national stage," he continued. "The Russian Football Union remains a member of the organization, the strongest in the world."
"The RFU wants the best for Russian football and, even in this difficult situation we are trying to do what’s best for our football. These are the steps taken as a result of the organization’s work," Mitrofanov added.
On September 26, UEFA announced a decision to allow Russia's junior national football teams, both the boys and girls under 17 teams, to participate in international matches, but not on the territory of Russia, and without the national flag and the national uniform.
Following UEFA’s decision, the football associations of England, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Romania stated their intention to boycott all matches against Russia’s U-17 national teams.
The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on October 4 that it had also cleared Russia’s U-17 national football teams to compete internationally. Footballers were allowed to play under the name the ‘Russian Football Union (RFU), rather than ‘Russia,’ without their national flag, anthem, and national-team kit and equipment.
Russia’s ban from int’l competition
The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) announced on February 28, 2022 that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from taking part in FIFA tournaments.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made the same decision in regard to the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.
Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as being the reason for their decisions.