Russia/Israel: "I'm not a supporter of banning the athletes" (Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA)

"What's happening with civilians there (in regard to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in response to the attacks on 07/10/2023) is personally hurting, killing me. It's impossible to see these things anymore. From the other point of view, I'm not a supporter of banning the athletes. Because what can an athlete do to their government to stop the war?" declared Aleksander Ceferin (SVN), president of UEFA, in an interview with the American political media Politico published online on 03/09/2025.

"The ban for Russian teams is, I think, three and a half years (since the outbreak of war in Ukraine on 24/02/2022). Did the war stop? It didn't. So for now, I don't know. I cannot say what will happen. There are talks about everything, but me personally, I'm against kicking the athletes out," added Ceferin.

Aleksander Ceferin also referred to the banner carried by nine refugee children from Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Palestine and Ukraine on the pitch at the Stadio Friuli in Udine (Friuli, ITA) before the UEFA Super Cup (Paris Saint-Germain - Tottenham Hotspur FC, 2-2, 4-3 on penalties…