The General Secretary of the Ukrainian Football Association, Igor Gryshchenko, commented on events at the UEFA Congress in Belgrade and spoke about the active position of the UAF in Europe and around the world regarding preventing the return of Russian football to the international arena.

"I think it's worth starting with an explanation of what the UEFA Executive Committee is. This is the governing body of European football that makes decisions about managing competitions at a continental level. So, I want to immediately reassure fans of Ukrainian football: Andriy Shevchenko not being elected to the executive committee in no way will affect the development of football in Ukraine and the implementation of reforms initiated by him after last year's UAF Congress," — Gryshchenko noted on "First Channel of Public Broadcasting."

Speaking about the congress itself, he emphasized: "Over the past one and a half years, the key issue in relations between the UAF and UEFA has been whether Russian teams will return to European competitions. The first attempt at such a return occurred one and a half years ago — it was about youth tournaments for under-17s. But thanks to a coalition of 13 countries that strongly opposed this, the decision was blocked."

Gryshchenko also reminded that full exclusion of Russia from competitions only happened in 2022 — despite the war in Ukraine starting in 2014. The catalysts for this were Poland and Sweden refusing to play against Russia in a World Cup qualifier, which threatened the tournament's conduct, forcing UEFA to act.

"The question of returning Russians was raised in September 2023. Thanks to the active position of member countries, it was removed from consideration. The issue was again discussed in September 2024 at a meeting of presidents and general secretaries of European associations, where together with Andriy Shevchenko we categorically opposed it. This resulted in the question being blocked once more," — Gryshchenko said.

He emphasized that until 2022, the issue of excluding Russia was not even raised, and only an ultimatum from several countries forced UEFA to act. At the same time, Russia remains a member of UEFA, as does Belarus. And unfortunately, there are still countries supporting their return.

"This is one of the political aspects mentioned by Andriy Shevchenko in his comments about elections to the UEFA Executive Committee. It's sad but I can't not mention another aspect: some representatives of previous UAF leadership opposed Shevchenko's election, making attempts to discredit him. I cannot disclose details at this moment due to confidentiality, but such incidents did occur," — Gryshchenko said.

He also added that during the September meeting, the UAF managed to convey a message to partners: Russia's return can't even be discussed as long as military actions continue. And currently, according to Gryshchenko, UEFA's position does not foresee reviewing this issue.

Another painful topic is the question of maintaining the integrity of competitions and ensuring their safe conduct. The UAF General Secretary reminded that last week, the Executive Committee of the UAF adopted an official statement on the inadmissibility of discussing Russia's return. Letters were also sent to UEFA and national associations with arguments supporting sanctions.

"We drew attention to the fact that Russia still receives solidarity payments from UEFA, which accrue coefficients to its clubs despite their non-participation in competitions. Also — that clubs from occupied territories of Crimea, Donbas, and Zaporizhzhia are being included in competitions under the auspices of the RFSA, despite a ban. Unfortunately, not all questions receive answers," — Gryshchenko noted.

The General Secretary of the UAF also stressed: "We need to talk about all types of sports. The situation with the International Olympic Committee shows that Russians are already being returned in many federations. But UEFA, fortunately, has maintained its position since 2022. And we will continue working to preserve it. Ukraine has become the core of a coalition against this — and we won't retreat."