Europe 1 with AFP 12:31 p.m., September 27, 2023

Ukraine will boycott European football competitions in which Russian teams will participate, the Ukrainian Federation (AUF) announced on Wednesday. This announcement comes a day after the decision of UEFA - the body of European football - to reinstate Russian under-17 teams in its competitions, a decision that the AUF "strongly condemns", according to a statement published on the website of this federation.

The AUF "confirms that it will not take part in any competition in which Russian teams participate", and urges UEFA to "reverse its decision", it is written. It also asks other countries to "boycott possible matches involving Russian teams, if they are admitted".

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UEFA announced on Tuesday that it had decided, in agreement with the International Federation (FIFA), to reinstate the U-17 teams because "children should not be punished for acts for which the responsibility lies exclusively with adults".

Matches without "without the Russian flag, anthem and official uniforms"

The executive committee of the European body had judged that it was "particularly regrettable that because of the persistence of the conflict, a generation of underage players is deprived of its right to play in international football competitions". The matches of the Russian teams, however, will have to be played "without the flag, the anthem and the official uniforms" of Russia, "and outside the Russian territory", had said UEFA.

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The body also reiterated its "condemnation of the illegal war waged by Russia", assuring that the suspensions of all other teams in the country would remain in force "until the end of the conflict in Ukraine".

Until Tuesday's decision, the Russians were excluded from all international football competitions, both club and national, since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops in February 2022, a decision taken jointly by UEFA and Fifa.