Russia has been banned from the qualification draw for the Euro 2024, which will take place in October this year in Frankfurt, Germany. This was announced on Tuesday by the country's Football Federation and the UEFA.
"The Russian national team will not participate in the qualification draw for the 2024 European Championship, which will take place on October 9th in Frankfurt," reads the statement issued by Russian football authorities. "The reason is the UEFA's decision in February to suspend the participation of Russian national teams and clubs in the organization's competitions, 'until further notice.'"
As a reminder, immediately after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on February 24th, both UEFA and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) jointly announced the suspension of Russian national teams from all their competitions.
This sanction has already been applied in the Women's Euro, which took place in July in England, where Portugal replaced Russia, and in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Meanwhile, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected the appeal from the affected Federation in July, which opposed this suspension.
Russia's isolation in the qualifying rounds of the next European Championship was confirmed on Tuesday by UEFA, whose executive committee met on the Croatian island of Hvar. "All Russian teams are currently suspended due to the UEFA Executive Committee's decision of February 28, 2022, which was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on July 15th, 2022," the European entity recalls in another statement.
Where could Russia play after UEFA's sanction?
In May of this year, after the sanctions from UEFA and FIFA, the possibility arose that the Russian Football Federation would consider joining the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
"I think it's time to seriously consider a possible move to the Asian Football Confederation," said Russian parliamentarian Dmitry Pirog on state television Match TV.
Pirog, a former professional athlete and close associate of the Federation, said this could happen because it is not clear how long the sanctions that UEFA is imposing on both Russian teams and the national team will last, which could be several years. Sky TV also reported on this possible move.
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