Russia announces its return to UEFA tournaments, which is "supported by the entire European public"

European football federations allegedly advocate the return of Russian national teams and club teams to international tournaments. At the same time, the decision to suspend the representatives of the aggressor country was dictated not by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but by political pressure.

Such an absurd opinion was voiced by the Secretary General of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Maxim Mitrofanov, in an interview with the RB Sport portal. He described the details of the negotiations with European football leaders and added that national federations understand the gravity of the situation the Russians are in.

"Behind the scenes, the entire European football community understands the unsportsmanlike nature of the decision and is in favour of Russian football's participation in international competitions. At no congress or meeting have we encountered a position where the need for our return would be questioned. All national federations express their support for us. And they understand the gravity of the situation in which Russian football is. But political pressure is being exerted on both national associations and international organisations. In fact, this pressure has led to such unsportsmanlike decisions," Mitrofanov said.

Recall that UEFA suspended Russian clubs from the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League in the summer, and the national team from the Euro 2024 qualifying tournament. On March 23, the Russian national team failed to defeat Iran in a friendly match (1-1), and the day before beat Iraq (2-0).

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, RFU president Alexander Dyukov spoke about Russia's plans to play in the qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup.

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