At A Glance
- Ukraine on Tuesday, Oct. 10, thanked UEFA for abandoning controversial plans to re-admit Russia's under-17 football teams, saying it would "fight for the continuation of the isolation" of Russia.
KYIV (AFP) -- Ukraine on Tuesday, Oct. 10, thanked UEFA for abandoning controversial plans to re-admit Russia's under-17 football teams, saying it would "fight for the continuation of the isolation" of Russia.
"We thank our European partners for supporting Ukraine," Ukraine's football association said in a statement.
"The position of our state... was heard. Russian football remains isolated. That is where it belongs," the statement said.
UEFA, European football's governing body had last month reinstated Russian youth teams to its competitions, having suspended the country's senior sides due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
It argued that youth players should not have to pay the price for the actions of adults.
That decision sparked anger in Kyiv, which said in response it would boycott all UEFA competitions featuring Russian teams.
"We are grateful to all our European partners who supported our protest against the admission of Russian teams," the Ukrainian football association's vice president Vadym Kostyuchenko said in the statement.
"There should be no compromises in this matter," he said, adding that "this may not be Russia's last attempt to regain its position in the international football arena".