The war in Ukraine is costing Russian athletes a lot of money. This time, it is the players of the Russian women’s soccer team who find themselves sanctioned by UEFA. The European soccer body announced on Monday 2 May that it would deprive Russia of a participation in the Women’s Euro, which will take place from 6 to 31 July in England.
In order not to leave a vacant position, it is the women’s team of Portugal, beaten in the playoffs by … Russia, which was drafted and will participate in the European Championship this summer. The players of the Russian team have also seen their dreams of participation in the 2023 World Cup vanish, with an expulsion from the European qualifiers, where they were currently in second place in their group, says the UEFA statement.
The exclusion of the women’s team from the Euro is one of many sanctions imposed on Russian soccer. With the men’s team already excluded from the World Cup in Qatar, which will be held from November 21 to December 18, Russian soccer is likely to face complicated years on the European level: the clubs will not be able to compete in continental competitions in the 2022-2023 season. This concerns the Champions League, the Europa League as well as the Europa League Conference.
This measure, which is very important, affects the club Zenit St. Petersburg, Russian champion and automatically qualified for the group stage of the next edition of the Champions League. The club, owned by Gazprom, has already shone in the past on the European scene with a victory in the Europa League in the 2007-2008 season.
