Russia vs Ukraine 'Friendly' Match Tipped to Happen Despite UEFA Ban
A 'friendly' match between Russia and Ukraine has been tipped to happen despite UEFA's ongoing ban.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both UEFA and FIFA suspended Russian national teams and clubs from all competitions. They have not competed in an international tournament since.
But former Manchester United and Everton winger Andrei Kanchelskis has suggested he would like to see the two sides meet in a friendly. However, he did acknowledge that the match would only be possible once the war is over.
Speaking to Sport24, he said: "When it's all over, I would like to see a football match between Russia and Ukraine. I think many people would like this.
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"For many, these are still fraternal nations and a fraternal country. My mother lives in Ukraine, and many of my friends and comrades are there.
"But now we are hostages of the situation. For now, we can only talk about sports, and politics is not my or our business."
Russia and Ukraine last played each other in 1999, during qualifying for Euro 2000.
But that did not stop Kanchelskis from speculating on how a friendly would play out.
"I think the teams' chances are 50/50," said the former winger, who made 17 appearances for the Soviet Union and 36 for Russia.
"Ukraine is practically not playing on its home fields now. This all adds up because the team has no support from its fans.
"I would like all this to end as soon as possible, and for us to focus on purely sporting matters."
What is the UEFA ban against Russia?
After they were banned from football, Russia launched six appeals against the decision, but they were all dismissed by Cas (the Court of Arbitration for Sport).
In September 2022, UEFA confirmed Russia would not be allowed to compete in Euro 2024 qualifying.
They will also be barred from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as they cannot play in the qualifying rounds.
Ahead of last week's European club competitions draws, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin spoke to POLITICO about the situation.
He said: "The ban for Russian teams is, I think, three and a half years. Did the war stop? It didn’t. So for now, I don’t know.
"I have to say that with the situation in Russia and Ukraine, there was a super strong political pressure.
"Now it’s more a pressure of the civil society than politicians, because politicians are obviously, when it comes to wars and victims, very pragmatic.
"I cannot say what will happen. There are talks about everything, but me personally, I’m against kicking the athletes out."
James Taylor