09/03/2025September 3, 2025UEFA boss says banning teams not the solution Ukraine and Gaza wars
Aleksander Ceferin discussed sanctioning athletes in an interview with PoliticoImage: Sport Press Photo/ZUMA/picture alliance
Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, European football’s governing body, said banning Russian teams has not helped end the war in Ukraine, and he also opposes banning Israeli athletes over the war in Gaza.
Speaking to Politico, he said he wanted politicians to do more to stop these wars.
Russian teams have been banned from taking part in matches organised by football’s European and world governing bodies since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“We were among the first to act, truly believing that sport could help put an end to this tragedy. Sadly, life showed us otherwise. Now I don’t see much reaction from politics. From civil society it’s huge,” he said.
“I cannot understand how a politician who can do a lot to stop the slaughter, anywhere, can go to sleep seeing all the children and all the civilians dead. I don’t understand it. You know, the idea football should solve these problems? No way,” he added.
He also supported the idea of reinstating Russian under-17 teams into European competitions.
“I still think that the children should be treated differently because, you know, they are raised in fear and hatred,” he said.
“They would understand that we are not their enemies, that nations are not enemies between each other. But politicians, they don’t care about that,” he said, adding that children also don’t vote.