Petržela: Games with Russian teams will be boycotted, UEFA does not need this
Former head coach of St. Petersburg’s Zenit Vlastimil Petržela spoke about the possibility of Russian football teams returning to the international arena. His words are quoted by “RB Sport”.
“It is unlikely that this will happen in the near future. Games with any Russian teams will be boycotted, and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) does not need this,” said Petržela. He noted that it is currently too difficult to organize a match with the participation of the Russian team for security reasons.
Earlier it became known that more than half of the UEFA member countries supported the return of Russian youth and junior teams to international tournaments. However, the president of the Ukrainian Football Association Andriy Shevchenko spoke out against it, so the initiative was not supported.
Due to sanctions from the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) and UEFA, the Russian national football team missed several major international tournaments. Among them are the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2024 European Championship in Germany. The Russian team is only playing friendly matches.
#Zenit #coach #speaks #return #Russian #national #teams #international #arena