Information has appeared in the media about the possible holding of a tournament under the auspices of the Union of European Football Associations on the territory of a country that is a terrorist state.

In this regard, the UAF has turned to UEFA for clarification. In a letter addressed to the organization's general secretary Theodor Theodoridis, among other things, it states:

"We are particularly concerned about recent news on the website of the RFU and in local media that Russia will host a football tournament under the auspices of UEFA for youth teams. The matches are defined as part of the development program of UEFA to hold tournaments among boys and girls up to 16 years old. 'In May 2023, an international development tournament for youth teams is planned in Volgograd,'—reads the relevant publication.

Taking into account UEFA's unequivocal position regarding the war in Ukraine and a series of decisive measures taken by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee—such as decisions to exclude Russian teams (both national teams and club teams) from participating in competitions organized by both FIFA and UEFA, which were adopted at the beginning of the war, and equivalent provisions for the next season-2022/2023, adopted later during a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in May 2022,—if the above statement by the RFU is true, this tournament will be the first international event held in an aggressor country since the start of the war against Ukraine, which has been condemned by the entire civilized world, and would effectively constitute a breach of sanctions fairly imposed on Russia by FIFA and UEFA. We sincerely hope that the aforementioned statement from the RFU is false and request confirmation of this."