“Ukraine criticized FIFA’s idea to ease sanctions against Russia”, — write: sport.ua
“The Minister of Sports of Ukraine, Matvyi Bidnyi, called Infantino’s initiative to allow Russia to compete at the youth level as “irresponsible” and “infantile.” Earlier, the head of FIFA said that the ban, introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, “did not achieve its goal” and should be lifted “at least at the children’s level.”
Bidny emphasized that such statements separate football from the reality of the war, recalling that since the beginning of the full-scale aggression, more than 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches, including more than 100 football players, have been killed. Among the victims are schoolboy Ilya Perezhogin, who died during a rocket attack, as well as futsal player Viktoriya Kotlyarova, who was killed as a result of shelling in Kyiv.
The minister said that war is a crime, not politics, and it is Russia that uses sports to justify aggression. He supported the position of the Ukrainian Football Association, which opposes the return of Russia to international tournaments.
Against this backdrop, the FIFA Council previously announced plans to host an U15 festival open to all of the organization’s 211 member associations. The Russian Football Union has already announced that they expect steps from FIFA and UEFA regarding the return of the Russian national team.
At the same time, sources in European football, cited by ESPN, doubt that lifting the ban is possible in practice – even at the youth level, because many teams may refuse to take the field against Russia until the end of the war.”
