"Losers, Ukraine. Losers, f*** off": UAF appeals to UEFA regarding statements by Armenian national team player during Euro 2026 match

During the celebration of a goal on the field in his team's match at the 2026 European Championship against the Ukrainian national team, Armenian national team player Denis Nevedrov, a naturalized Russian, shouted live on air: "Losers, Ukraine. Losers, f*** off." The Ukrainian Association of Football appealed to the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body to investigate this incident and called on the Association to apply disciplinary sanctions to the player, UNN reports.

The Ukrainian Association of Football appealed to the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body in connection with an incident that occurred after the group stage match of the 2026 European Futsal Championship between the national teams of Armenia and Ukraine.

It is noted that immediately after the final whistle, one of the players of the Armenian national team made a public offensive statement against Ukraine, which was recorded on video during the match broadcast. The UAF considers the actions of the Armenian national team player to be unsportsmanlike conduct, which is a violation of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations.

The UAF stated that the letter to UEFA noted that "the mentioned player has Russian origin and citizenship of the Russian Federation (which is confirmed by the player's personal data on the official website of MFK "Tyumen")".

Given the realities of the brutal war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine with the aim of destroying our state, encroaching on its independence and killing Ukrainian citizens solely for their origin, national identity and desire to live on their land, Russia and the Russian people daily demonstrate hatred and contempt for Ukrainians in their actions and public statements at both state and private levels.

The Association emphasized that hate speech, based on humiliation of dignity and contempt on national grounds, is a true manifestation of xenophobia - one of the most severe forms of discrimination.

Thus, this case is significantly more serious than just unsportsmanlike conduct by a national team player during an official match of the 2026 UEFA European Futsal Championship, which was watched by a multi-million football community. We insist that such hate speech and humiliation of dignity are unacceptable from the point of view of human rights, common sense, and the shared values of the football family. In connection with the foregoing, we ask the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body to apply disciplinary sanctions to player Denis Nevedrov and the Armenian national team for unsportsmanlike conduct after the UEFA European Futsal Championship 2026 group stage match Armenia - Ukraine, which violates the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations.

Context

After the 2026 European Futsal Championship match, in which the Ukrainian national team lost to Armenia (2:1), Armenian player Denis Nevedrov, a naturalized Russian, shouted on camera: "Losers, Ukraine. Losers, f*** off."

Also, after the match, Nevedrov posted a story on Instagram where he covered the Ukrainian flag with an offensive emoji.

Later, Nevedrov closed his Instagram profile.

Nevedrov was born in Russia but acquired Armenian citizenship in 2021 and has since played for the national team. He has four caps for the Russia U-21 team. At the club level, the 31-year-old plays for Tyumen.

Ukraine's futsal team lost to Armenians in the first round of Euro 202622.01.26, 19:14 • 2712 views