The Lithuanian Football Federation supported Ukraine’s position in a strange decision from European officials.
The list of countries that have not agreed to UEFA’s entry of Russian teams is growing. Lithuania was added to the list, with the football federation releasing an official statement regarding the scandalous decision.
It expresses disapproval of the partial lifting of sanctions on the aggressor country, while the war is still ongoing in Ukraine.
“This decision by UEFA is somewhat unexpected, but our position on this issue has not changed and remains the same. We do not think that any Russian national teams or clubs should compete in international competitions at the moment. Even though they will not use the flag, anthem or other national symbols of the country and will play on neutral fields.
Today we have talked a lot with representatives of other UEFA member countries, and they are not inclined to agree with this decision either.
We can once again confirm that we continue to adhere to our previous positions – we condemn Russia’s military actions in Ukraine and we can assure you that we will not play one hundred percent of Russian football players, even if it is determined by draw of any contest.
If it happens that our Russian youth teams have to meet in one tournament or another, our players will not take the field, regardless of the sanctions threatened by the federation for this and wherever the match takes place.
In this case, we can only agree with the representatives of the football federations of Ukraine, England, Latvia and other countries, who have already publicly announced that their players will not play against the Russian national team. We welcome their steps and stand in the same positions,” said LFF President Edgaras Stankevicius.
We remind you that earlier the UEFA Executive Committee decided to lift the ban on the participation of Russian youth teams (under 17 years old) in international competitions.
After that, Ukraine, England, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Latvia have already expressed their reluctance to play against the representatives of the aggressor countries.
Source: korrespondent
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