The President of the European Football Union (UEFA) spoke about Russia's suspension from international competitions due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to the head of UEFA, the "ban" of clubs and national teams of the aggressor state will last until the end of the war that the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine.

"Russia will be suspended until the end of the war," T� quoted Metropolitan.siČeferin as saying.

The UEFA President also commented on the decision made back in February 2022 to terminate a multimillion-dollar contract with the Russian company Gazprom.

"It just had to be done as a symbolic act. It is unlikely that we can show ads for this company in stadiums when hundreds of millions of people are watching matches. I'm sorry that this is the case, but we had to do it," Ceferin said.

The head of UEFA also answered the question of whether it was worth considering the expediency of terminating cooperation with Gazprom even before the start of a full-scale war.

"No, it seems to me pure populism. You know, Europe is not a world champion in human rights either, and we know that very well. And populists, who constantly tell who is not worth dealing with, do it solely for self-PR. "We return 97 percent of all the money earned to football, and I will do everything to ensure that this sport develops further, throughout Europe," Ceferin said.

Russia's suspension from international football: what is known

In response to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, UEFA and FIFA suspendedRussian clubs and national teams from participating in tournaments under their auspices.

Russian clubs were expelled from European competitions, and the Russian national team was excluded from the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup and not allowed to qualify for Euro-2024.

Since February 24, 2022, the Russian national team has played only friendly matches. The rivals of the national team of the terrorist country were Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt U-23 and Qatar.

In addition, officials from the aggressor country were not allowed to officiate international matches. However, in September 2023, UEFA appointed a Russian team of referees led by Vera Opeykina for the Women's League of Nations match between the national teams of Armenia and Kazakhstan.

After that, the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) protested to UEFA and called for not allowing representatives of the terrorist state into the international arena.

The aggressor was sent for the ship: the government of the African country forbade its national team to play with Russia

Rubles are more expensive than conscience: the stars of Barcelona and other La Liga teams starred in advertising for the Russian Federation (video)

Under a neutral flag: the IOC president advocated the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the 2024 Olympics