UEFA paid millions to Russian clubs after their exclusion from European tournaments, but nothing to Ukrainian ones
Kyiv • UNN
UEFA paid almost 11 million euros to Russian football clubs after the full-scale invasion, despite their exclusion from European competitions. Ukrainian clubs did not receive similar funds due to the "military action zone."
More than 10 million euros have been paid to the Russian Federation after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the invaders, writes The Guardian, reports UNN.
Details
According to the investigation by the British newspaper, UEFA, the governing body of European football, has paid almost 11 million euros to Russian clubs since the beginning of the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine. And this was done after clubs of the Russian football league were banned from participating in European tournaments.
Payments were made despite the fact that five Ukrainian clubs did not receive similar funds, allegedly because their location is in a "zone of military operations."
UEFA explains payments to Russian clubs
This is the third season in a row that the Russian Football Association has received these solidarity payments.
As stated, this assistance was provided through the solidarity fund, which was originally created to help clubs that could not reach European places in their national leagues. And also to promote "a better balance between competitions," UEFA reports.
Ukrainian teams left with nothing?
Ukrainian clubs Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol, and Kharkiv received nothing from UEFA. President Aleksander Čeferin justified this decision by stating that these clubs are located in a "zone of military operations."
Club directors wrote: "As a result of our communication with both the national association and UEFA officials, we were informed that the obstacle to the aforementioned payments is some absolutely incomprehensible bank requirements in Switzerland, which allegedly relate to the geographical location of football clubs in a 'combat zone.'"
We have not received any more detailed information or any legal justification for these payment restrictions. The wording used regarding the 'zone of military operations' is absolutely incomprehensible to us and does not correspond to reality
The zone of military operations, or rather the zone of Russian military aggression, is not only a specific region of our country, but all of Ukraine
Recall
FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed hope for Russia's return to football. UEFA and UAF oppose this due to Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine.