According to Tribuna website, Russia is represented in four FIFA committees, ten UEFA committees and three expert panels. Some of them are involved in the football occupation of Crimea.
“The presence of representatives of Ukraine in the UEFA and FIFA committees is a consistent and balanced decision. Ukraine, like other members of these organizations, must have representation in various bodies and committees in accordance with the statute and uses this right for the benefit of the development of Ukrainian football.
Ukraine as a state is represented in the highest world institutions, including, despite the membership there of representatives of the aggressor state. This allows you to confront the enemy at the diplomatic level, maintain relations with partners and convince neutral countries. A similar situation in football.
UAF applied to UEFA regarding the membership of Russians in committees as early as 2023 and received a formal response.
At the same time, of course, there were discussions between our delegated members on this topic – first of all, because of the personal moral barriers of Ukrainians. However, everyone understood the importance of UAF representation in UEFA and FIFA. As practice has shown, we manage to avoid the Russians and work effectively in committees.
No representative of ours is in any way in contact with their representative. This applies to all forms of interaction: handshakes, work and non-work communication. No contacts. Since most of the work is done online, this is very real.
Our presence in the committees, on the contrary, allows us to personally communicate with representatives of other countries and associations regarding the war in Ukraine, Russian violations of UEFA and FIFA principles (integration of clubs from annexed territories), the desire to return to official international competitions and many other issues.
It is personal communication with representatives of other countries that is the most effective and efficient strategy of the UAF in opposing the Russians at the football level in the last two years. After all, UAF’s letters and appeals to UEFA and FIFA on these topics now remain virtually unanswered. In 2024-2025, UAF sent over 20 different letters to UEFA and FIFA, some of which were public. Only one appeal was answered – from FIFA.
Therefore, it is the coalition of European associations with which we communicate and with many of which we have signed memorandums of cooperation, which is a shield that restrains the desire of the Russians and their open and hidden allies to return to football. In many other sports, unfortunately, they succeeded.
At the UEFA level, such attempts also took place and the public knows about them. In particular, there were comments about this even from UEFA officials of the highest level. However, the consolidated union of most European associations and the clear opposition of Ukraine restrained these attempts.
Regarding the membership in the committees, it is important to understand that the representative of Ukraine was not elected to the UEFA Executive Committee, and therefore the association does not even have the right to vote during the election of committee members and heads. At the same time, there is an example of the effective chairmanship of our representative in the FIFA committee, in particular regarding the prevention of the aggressor’s associates from high positions.
Andriy Shevchenko did not allow the appointment of a representative of a country from Asia, who has close ties with the Russian Football Union, as his deputy in the FIFA Future Football Committee. This example emphasizes the importance of high representation of Ukraine in world and European football institutions.
In summary, we understand that Russia’s membership in UEFA and FIFA, according to the statutes of these organizations, leaves it with the right to representation in their bodies, and even more: to receive solidarity funds and participate in financing programs. The Executive Committee of the UAF publicly and officially appealed to UEFA on this matter, in particular, in the context of the delay in solidarity payments to Ukrainian clubs and their payment in full to Russian ones.
UAF will send a new appeal to UEFA and FIFA so that European colleagues know about the actions of Russians elected to UEFA and FIFA bodies. We will definitely inform you about the results of the appeal.”
Source: sport.ua