Rome, Sept. 3 (LaPresse) – “What is happening to civilians” in Gaza “hurts me personally, it kills me. We can’t keep witnessing these things.”
On the other hand, “I am not in favor of excluding athletes. What can an athlete do to stop a war carried out by their government? It’s very, very difficult.”
These were the words of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in an interview with Politico, responding to a question about the possibility of excluding Israeli teams from European competitions.
“The suspension of Russian teams has lasted, I think, for three and a half years,” he continued. “Has the war ended? It hasn’t. So for now, I don’t know. I must say that in the case of Russia and Ukraine, there was very strong political pressure. Now, it’s more pressure from civil society than from politicians, because when it comes to war and victims, politicians are obviously very pragmatic. I can’t say what will happen. Everything is being discussed, but personally, I’m against banning athletes.”
Regarding the timeline for reinstating Russian clubs, Ceferin said:
“For us, it’s quite clear that the war must end. The war must end. I hope we are moving in the right direction, but I don’t have any information apart from what I get from the media. We wanted to bring back youth players, boys and girls under 17, and we even got the support of our executive committee. But then there was such political hysteria — pressure on some committee members who didn’t change their minds, but asked us to wait because they were so personally and privately attacked, they couldn’t take it anymore. I still believe that children should be treated differently because, you know, they’re being raised in fear and hatred.”