UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin again made a scandalous statement about the possible return of Russian teams to international tournaments, and also commented on the participation of the Ukrainian national team at Euro 2024.
Alexander Ceferin. Photo: Getty Images"There is no pressure. UEFA has never felt pressure to allow the Russians to return. I am against any boycott, but in this case we had to do so after the war started. I don't think soccer can help much in this case, but each of us can do something.
We have already discussed whether Russian youth teams should be allowed to play in our competitions. Why should it affect kids who can't vote in their own country yet? But it can't be done because some associations are heavily influenced by their governments.
I know that children in Russia are brought up under propaganda: that we don't like them, that we hate them and don't accept them. The moment they come here and maybe meet other 15-16 year old kids from Germany or Slovenia or wherever, they might see it differently. Now a whole generation in Russia is being raised with even more hatred. The whole situation is frightening.
Security at Euro 2024? We don't have any particular problems with security. The problem for me is the geopolitical situation in the world - more and more violence, more and more aggression. Organizing such a large-scale event as the European Championship is a difficult task. It is easier for us in UEFA to no longer work with a few countries, as we did three years ago. I repeat, there are no security problems.
The Ukrainian national team shows impressive soccer. As a team they are really strong. They could be one of the surprises of this Euro 2024," Ceferin told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
