(Paris) Ukraine on Thursday asked FIFA and UEFA, the international and European football bodies, to reverse their decision to reinstate Russian under-17 teams in their competitions.
“We demand that the decisions of FIFA and UEFA be reviewed as they infringe on the rights of Ukrainian children who have been deprived by Russia of the right to train safely and simply live in their homeland without being threatened with being kidnapped, raped or killed,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs said in a statement.
On Wednesday, FIFA lifted the suspension of Russia’s under-17 teams, allowing them to once again participate in age-grade World Cups (men’s and women’s).
This decision followed that, similar and announced ten days earlier, of UEFA, whose competitions qualify for tournaments organized by FIFA.
Ukraine has called for a boycott of any match against Russia, already officially announced by the football federations of “England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Romania,” the Ukrainian government listed.
“We firmly believe that football should always promote peace, tolerance and justice, and not encourage the continuation of war and promote impunity,” he added, stressing that Ukraine will “firmly defend this position as long as Russia is at war with Ukraine and until peace is restored on the European continent.”
