Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA. /
war in the east
UEFA will separate the Moscow team from the second continental competition due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Leipzig, their rival in the round of 16, will go directly to the quarterfinals
The retaliation of the sports world due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to happen. The German newspaper ‘Bild’ anticipates that UEFA will expel Spartak Moscow from the Europa League this afternoon in response to the aggression perpetrated by Vladimir Putin’s regime against its neighboring country, which means that Leipzig, the rival that had allocated last Friday’s draw to the Muscovite team in the round of 16 of the second continental competition, they will qualify directly for the quarterfinals. The decision of the highest instance of European football could set a precedent and be emulated in other tournaments and sports disciplines.
UEFA had already determined that Russia and its teams could not play international matches within the borders of their country, forcing them to celebrate them on a neutral field. But the body headed by Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin has decided to go further and apply maximum force by vetoing Spartak’s presence in the Europa League, a competition in which he was the only Russian representative still alive, after Betis dropped Zenit from Saint Petersburg in the round of 16 playoff. Spartak had been exempted from participating in that round having come out of the first phase as first place in Group C ahead of Napoli, Leicester and Legia Warsaw.
In this way, the group trained by the Italian Paolo Vanoli, currently fourth in the Russian league and emblem of Putin’s army, will suffer a harsh sports sanction and will leave Leipzig, executioner of Real Sociedad in the previous phase, free to go to the round of 16. of the Europa League.
boycott
UEFA’s forcefulness may mark the way forward for FIFA, so far lukewarm in its reaction to Putin’s hostilities in Ukraine, despite pressure from a growing number of federations calling for Russia to be unceremoniously expelled. of the race to the World Cup in Qatar.
England and Wales have expressed in recent hours their refusal to compete with that country while the war in Eastern Europe continues, while Denmark goes further and advocates the “exclusion of Russia from all sports.” These federations thus join Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, the first to announce their boycott ahead of the play-off qualifiers for the World Cup to be held between November 21 and December 18 in the emirate.
The FIFA Executive Committee agreed on Sunday, with the approval of UEFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that Russia play its matches on a neutral field and behind closed doors until further notice, without anthem or flag, and only under the shield of your federation. A measure that, of course, would affect the playoffs for the World Cup in Qatar. The governing body of world football also warned Russia that its participation in the World Cup, even in the case of overcoming the playoffs, is not guaranteed if the European Union and the high international institutions decide to increase the pressure and extend the sanctions as consequence of the invasion of Ukraine.
But that Solomonic decision does not convince everyone and threatens to increase the number of countries that rebel against a hypothetical confrontation with Russia in any discipline. A step that England and Wales have already taken “out of solidarity with Ukraine and to condemn the atrocities that Russia is committing,” according to the statement from the English Football Federation. Denmark, which is already guaranteed its presence at the World Cup in Qatar, directly advocates an “exclusion of Russia from all sports” as punishment for the Putin regime for causing the greatest threat to international security since World War II.
