Russian football clubs banned from UEFA cups

The fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues with UEFA indefinitely suspending Russia’s national teams and club teams from its competitions. 

Red Bull Head of Soccer, Oliver Mintzlaff, anticipated the UEFA move and was quoted by the RB Leipzig official Twitter account as stating that he expected the Europa League series to be cancelled. That officially happened when UEFA announced its joint decision with FIFA to ban Russia and Russian clubs in their Feb. 28 statement.

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“FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,” UEFA stated.

UEFA also subsequently confirmed that its decision sees Spartak Moscow eliminated from the Europa League with RB Leipzig advancing to the quarterfinals.

No other Russian clubs made it to the Round of 16 of UEFA’s other two marquee men’s competitions: the Champions League and the Conference League.

There are also no Russian clubs currently competing in the UEFA women’s Champions League or in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Youth League.

The move by UEFA came at a time when international pressure was growing for sanctions against Russia to reach beyond the economic sphere.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) were the latest body to take a firm stance on Russian involvement in international sporting events, and FIFA and UEFA followed suit.

Russia’s women’s national team was also slated to participate in this summer’s Euro 2022 tournament, drawn in a group with Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. If the suspension is still in effect when that tournament kicks off on July 6, the Russian women will not participate.