UEFA funds Russian clubs while blocking payments to Ukrainian teams - Shocking Guardian report
Photo: The European football union acts in Russia's interests (Getty Images)
Despite Russia's complete suspension from international football tournaments, UEFA continues to transfer "solidarity" payments to its clubs. Meanwhile, funds for Ukrainian teams are being blocked, according to an investigation by Britain's The Guardian.
What is known about the payments
The total amount of such transfers since the start of the full-scale invasion exceeds €10.8 million.
According to UEFA financial reports:
- in the 2022/23 season, the Russian Football Union received €3.305 million
- in 2023/24, €3.381 million
- in 2024/25, €4.224 million
- also, in the 2021/22 season, €6.209 million was transferred
These funds are intended for clubs that did not qualify for European competitions, to "maintain competitive balance" between leagues.
Ukrainian clubs did not receive the money
At the same time, five Ukrainian clubs complain that they have not received similar payments. These include Odesa-based Chornomorets and Real Pharma, Zaporizhzhia's Metalurh, Kharkiv's Metalist 1925, and Phoenix, which represents the occupied city of Mariupol.
On July 27, directors of these clubs addressed UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin directly. In a letter obtained by British journalists, they described an "extraordinary situation": solidarity payments for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons have been blocked without a clear explanation.
According to the club heads, the issue allegedly stems from a Swiss bank with "some completely unclear requirements" due to the geographical location of the teams in a "war zone."
"We have not received any more detailed information or any legal justification for these restrictions on payments. The wording used in relation to the 'zone of military operations' is completely unclear to us and does not correspond to reality. The zone of military operations, or rather the zone of military aggression of Russia, is not a specific region of our country, but the whole of Ukraine," the document states.
UEFA continues to fund clubs from the aggressor country, while Ukrainian teams are left without guaranteed funds under a pretext that the victims themselves call absurd.
A UEFA spokesperson initially promised to provide British journalists with a comment, but later gave no response.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin (photo: Getty Images)
UEFA's policy regarding the aggressor country
Previously, the organization governing European football was already criticized for its lenient attitude toward Russia.
In 2023, UEFA attempted to reinstate Russia's U-17 national team in international competition but backed down following protests from several associations, including England.
Also, even while suspended, Russian clubs continue to receive coefficient points, which affects the number of teams the country can send to European competitions after the ban is lifted.
Russian national teams and clubs have been suspended from international tournaments since February 2022, yet the Russian Football Union remains a member of UEFA. Among UEFA's leadership are individuals closely connected to the Kremlin, including Polina Yumasheva, the former wife of oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
