Euro 2024: UEFA confirms Russia ban for tournament; Belarus enter draw despite German plea

Posted Wednesday, September 21, 2022 by ESPN

UEFA confirmed on Tuesday that Russia have been banned from the 2024 European Championship.

Russian teams were banned in February from international competitions by both UEFA and world footballing body FIFA days after the country's invasion of Ukraine.

A Russian appeal against those decisions was dismissed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

UEFA also decided to let Belarus go into the 2024 Euro draw next month despite a government request from tournament host Germany to remove the team because Belarus is a military ally of Russia.

Belarus will be in the 53-nation draw that Russia are banned from, although the Belarusians cannot be placed in the same group as neighboring Ukraine for security reasons.

The qualifying groups will be drawn on Oct. 9 in Frankfurt, and German interior minister Nancy Faeser last week urged UEFA not to let Belarus play. UEFA said it had replied to Faeser in a confidential letter.

UEFA acted in May to prohibit Belarus from hosting games and ensured their "home" games on neutral territory will not be attended by fans.

Imposing the Belarus sanctions four months ago, UEFA cited that the Russian invasion of Ukraine "had been facilitated by access given from the neighboring territory of Belarus."

Other political decisions that limit the Euro 2024 draw include extending longtime UEFA blocks on games between teams from Azerbaijan and Armenia or from Spain and Gibraltar, plus one that keeps both Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from facing Kosovo.

UEFA also intervenes in the draw to restrict excessive travel and how much potential extreme weather any one team can face.