"There is a possibility": Russia again threatens to leave UEFA

The Russian Football Union (RFU) has returned to discussing the issue of changing the confederation due to its suspension from international competitions. The aggressor country was outraged that the youth teams from Russia were not returned to the continental championship.

This was stated in an interview with the Sport24 portal by Russian Federation President Alexander Dyukov. The official accused the European Football Union (UEFA) of actually freezing negotiations with the Russians on their future in the organization's tournaments and threatened to withdraw from the organization.

"We are in a dialog. But now the negotiations are on hold. Both we and UEFA have proved our positions to each other. All the arguments have been presented. UEFA made a decision last year to allow youth national teams to play in the UEFA European Championship qualifiers, but this decision was never implemented. We believe that the ball is in UEFA's half of the field. But we have the opportunity to change the confederation. This possibility still exists," Dyukov said.

In addition, it has become known that the Russian Federation does not expect the Russian national team to participate in the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 European Championship. In September, UEFA announced the inclusion of Russian teams in the qualifying tournaments for the European Youth Championships. After that, 12 associations announced a boycott of teams from Russia, forcing UEFA to reverse its decision.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, UEFA President Alexander Čeferin said that the union would not exclude teams from Belarus from its competitions.

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