FIFA, following UEFA, allowed Russian youth teams to return to the world stage. This is a hard blow to a number of Western countries.
The initiative of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) caused panic among the boycotting countries, which announced their refusal to play against the Russian national team. Even if we are talking about football players under 17 years old.
Today the provocateurs suffered a new blow. FIFA supported UEFA’s idea and also returned Russia to international football.
In football, they took the example of the IOC
The return of Russian sports resembles a domino effect. Some disciplines are soon followed by others, and so, gradually, it comes to football. At first it was not clear whether Russians would be able to travel to other countries to take part in the competition. There were a number of other difficulties. However, as it turned out, everything is more than real. Especially when tournaments are not held in countries hostile to Russia.
Even Great Britain, which does not hide its Russophobia, lifted the ban on our tennis players performing at Wimbledon this year. This chain was initially started by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which created very controversial recommendations for the return of Russia, which suddenly began to work in other sports. We had to put up with the new rules even in Ukraine, where, after much deliberation, they still gave their compatriots the opportunity to compete with ours.
There have already been many major international tournaments in which Russians took part and even won Olympic licenses. So UEFA decided that it was time to do something. And they started with the admission of Russian youth teams, but without the flag and anthem. This decision angered a number of Western countries, which threatened to boycott UEFA.
Why did FIFA and UEFA suddenly remember Russia?
However, UEFA did not go against Russia. On the contrary, the organization intends to calm down radically minded countries and force them to change their tune and adequately accept the return of our young football players. The decision was not made there only to be canceled immediately. There was a really funny situation with the UEFA vice-president and head of the Swedish Sports Confederation Karl-Erik Nilsson, who first voted at the executive committee for the return of Russia, and then was forced to apologize.
Less than a week has passed since the International Football Federation (FIFA), on its official website, also announced its intention to allow Russian teams of players under 17 years of age to participate in international tournaments under its auspices. It is reported that our guys can be admitted to the world championships if they qualify there through the qualifying tournament.
At the same time, it is already known for sure that the Russian men’s team will not be able to compete at the next World Championship, because the tournament will be held in November 2023. It is no longer possible to qualify there, but the Russian women’s team should get a chance to take part in the 2024 world championship. However, this is not so important as the very fact of easing sanctions against Russian football, which is simply impossible to ignore.
It is clear that the return process will be slow and fraught with many difficulties. The fact that FIFA and UEFA have begun to take steps in our direction does not mean that we are fully moving into the European and global family. However, the initiatives of these two organizations mean a lot. This is a signal that Russia has not been forgotten. We are no less interesting to FIFA and UEFA than they are to us.
