UEFA says abandoning plans to re-admit Russian under-17 teams

Logistical problems behind refusal

European football’s governing body UEFA said Tuesday it had abandoned plans to re-admit Russian under-17 teams into the youth European Championship next year.

In September, UEFA reinstated Russian youth teams to its competitions, having suspended the country’s senior sides due to the invasion of Ukraine.

UEFA argued that youth players should not have to pay the price for the actions of adults.

That decision sparked anger in Kyiv, which said in response it would boycott all UEFA competitions featuring Russian teams.

But UEFA now says it was too difficult logistically to reintegrate Russian under-17 teams and the issue was removed from the agenda of a meeting of the body’s Executive Committee.

“The agenda point was withdrawn as no technical solution to allow Russian teams to play could be found,” UEFA said.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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