UEFA president explained the ineligibility of Russian under-17s for tournaments due to media attacks

Russian under-17 athletes were not allowed to compete because of attacks from Western media and politicians. This was stated by the head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Alexander Ceferin, in an interview with the Slovenian newspaper Delo on Sunday, February 23.

"We would support this idea, but governments do not allow us. <...> In fact, they have not allowed children to socialize," said the head of UEFA.

Thus, according to Ceferin, one of the association's presidents had to resign because of media attacks on UEFA.

He noted that children are brought up "in a spirit of hatred and fear" of peers living in other parts of Europe.

Ceferin also pointed out that European officials are surprised that they are not involved in talks on the Ukrainian issue when they themselves have said they are unwilling to dialog with Russia about it.

"There is no freedom of speech in the West anymore, you can no longer say what you think," the newspaper's interlocutor concluded.

Foggy Milan: which of our athletes will be able to compete at the Games-2026

A year before the Olympics, only a handful of Russian athletes have the opportunity to qualify so far

Earlier, on February 8, Russian Football Union (RFU) President Alexander Dyukov said that he believes in the return of Russian national teams to international tournaments in his new term in office.

On February 5, Maxim Mitrofanov, secretary general of the RFU Ethics Committee, said that some members of UEFA and the International Football Federation (FIFA) may have changed their rhetoric regarding the Russians' return to international competitions. He expressed hope that the increased work would lead to the return of the Russian national team as early as 2025.