Ukraine may boycott Euro 2026: Reason and Shevchenko's response
Ukraine may boycott Euro 2026 (photo: facebook.com/UKRAINEFUTSAL)
Ukraine's futsal team has qualified for Euro 2026 but may boycott the tournament due to Belarus, Suspilne Sport reports.
Why Ukraine may boycott Euro 2026
As is known, our team successfully reached the final stage of the 2026 European Championship, winning all six of their qualification matches. The Ukrainian team became one of the 12 teams that secured their participation in the tournament.
However, Ukraine's participation is now in question due to the presence of the Belarusian team in the competition, which also won its qualification group. The reason is the current ban on Ukrainian athletes competing against teams from Russia and Belarus, unless they have "neutral" status (as stipulated by a decree from the Ministry of Youth and Sports issued in June 2023).
Unlike Russia, which has been fully banned by UEFA from all tournaments, Belarus is still participating in competitions under its own flag, including futsal, football, and beach football. As a result, Ukraine has already boycotted several tournaments, including the European Beach Soccer League and the 2024 Beach Soccer World Cup.
Ukraine qualified for the Euro Futsal Championship with a 100% score (photo: facebook.com/UKRAINEFUTSAL)
What could change?
The European Championship next year will be hosted by two countries, Latvia and Lithuania. And here arises another issue: Latvia has legislated a ban on its national teams competing against Russian and Belarusian teams.
Vadim Lashenko, President of the Latvian Football Federation, stated in an interview with LRT that the country would not be able to host Euro 2026 matches involving Belarus, not only due to legal but also ethical restrictions.
According to him, negotiations with UEFA are ongoing, and the official position of the European Football Association will be announced soon.
Andriy Shevchenko, head of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF), noted that Ukraine is in consultations with the co-hosts of Euro 2026. The final decision regarding Ukraine's participation in the main continental tournament has not yet been made.
"Consultations are ongoing, so we will wait for a clear position. Could there be a boycott? Consultations are still underway. Once we understand how things will move forward, we will take our steps," said the UAF head.
It should be reminded that Ukraine is the current bronze medalist of the Futsal World Cup and one of the strongest teams in Europe. In Euro 2022, the "blue and yellow" team finished in fourth place.
Earlier, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian national team, Mykola Mykytiuk, shared the team's plans for Euro 2026 and named the strongest teams as of today.
