Football: Soccer-UEFA allows Russia to take part in its congress

(Reuters) – A Russian agent was allowed to show up at UEFA’s Congress in Vienna on Wednesday despite the country’s countrywide groups and golf equipment getting barred from competitions.

Europe’s governing entire body UEFA and earth soccer governing system FIFA suspended Russian clubs and countrywide groups from their competitions in February until more detect soon after the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “distinctive military services procedure”.

UEFA also ruled out Russia’s bid to host the men’s Euros in 2028 and 2032 before this month but verified on Wednesday that they had been authorized to show up at the Congress.

“The Common Secretary of the Football Union of Russia attended present day Congress in Vienna,” a UEFA spokesperson told Reuters.

The Ukrainian FA did not straight away answer to a Reuters request for remark.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin mentioned it was ‘premature’ to talk about quite possibly suspending the Russian soccer federation.

“If you requested me a thirty day period in the past, I would consider differently than today. And in a month, we do not know what will take place,” Ceferin said at a information convention immediately after the Congress.

“I would not exclude anything, but I would not say nearly anything will take place in the long term. Our sanctions ended up hard for the athletes, I am sorry for them, but in a scenario like this there were being no other methods.

“Let us see in the upcoming. What I hope, and we all hope, is that the madness stops as shortly as possible.”

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk editing by Martyn Herman)