UEFA bans Russia from women’s Euros and World Cup, clubs banned next season

UEFA has banned Russia from the Women’s European Championship in July and from participating in qualifying for next year’s World Cup following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, European soccer’s governing body said on Monday.

Portugal will replace Russia for the July 6-31 tournament in England, having lost to them in the qualifying play-offs. They will join the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland in Group C.

UEFA also ruled Russia’s bid to host the men’s Euros in 2028 and 2032 ineligible, which means Britain and Ireland’s joint bid to host Euro 2028 is rivalled only by Turkey, who also declared an interest in hosting the 2032 tournament.

The governing body said Russia’s bid was ineligible in accordance with its regulations, which states “each bidder shall ensure that it does not act in a manner that could bring UEFA, the UEFA final or UEFA final phase, any other bidder, the bidding procedure or European football into disrepute”.

Additionally, Russian clubs will not compete in UEFA’s Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League next season.

The winners of the Scottish Premiership will take the place of Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg in the 2022-23 Champions League group stage.

UEFA said in a statement its executive committee took the decisions to “ensure their smooth staging in a safe and secure environment for all those concerned”.

The statement also said Russia will not participate in the Nations League, which begins in June, and will be automatically relegated from their second-tier group.

UEFA and world governing body FIFA suspended Russian clubs and national teams from their competitions until further notice after the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.

As a result of the sanctions, German club RB Leipzig advanced to this season’s Europa League quarter-finals at the expense of Russian side Spartak Moscow after their last-16 clash was called off.

In March, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected a request from Russia’s football association (FUR) to freeze FIFA’s suspension, effectively ending its hopes of competing at the World Cup in Qatar, before the FUR withdrew its appeal.

Several national soccer associations announced they would not play against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, including those of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Source: Reuters