Russia's sports minister responds to Ukraine's calls for football exclusion
Date
10/28/2022 5:57:23 AM
(MENAFN) According to Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin, Ukraine is singing "old songs" by requesting that the Russian football Union (RFU) be expelled from the international and European regulatory organizations FIFA and UEFA.
Andrey Pavelko, the head of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF), announced on facebook on Tuesday that his group "will demand Russia's exclusion from UEFA and FIFA."
The UAF has made an "immediate appeal" to FIFA and UEFA, requesting "the most stringent sanctions against the RFU," according to Pavelko.
The move was taken in response to a decision to enable teams from Russia's new regions and Crimea to play in Russian football competitions.
The Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, formally became members of the Russian Federation last month after their populations overwhelmingly supported the move in referendums.
Matytsin stated that the UAF was singing "ancient tunes" and that Russia is "conscious of what colleagues from other countries are saying" about the situation.
“But we are absolutely confident in our development strategy, uniting strategies, strategies of consolidation, solidarity. That this is the main mission of sport – to be together. Everything that goes against this strategy, [that] destroys it, is unacceptable for us,” Matytsin outlined.
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