“We succumbed to the Kyiv provocation” – Zakharova responded to UEFA’s prank
As part of the presentation of the 2024 European Championship, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decided to arbitrarily include Crimea into Ukraine
They showed the corresponding world map during the presentation of the logo of the European Championship 2024, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
So, on October XNUMX, during the presentation of the video, fans noticed that the peninsula was painted not in white and blue and red, but in yellow and blue.
Such a scandalous video caused a resonance not only among fans, but also among famous representatives of politics and sports. Thus, State Duma deputy, boxer Nikolai Valuev criticized UEFA for an obvious provocation.
“When such things are done so clearly, it is difficult to attribute it to an accident. It was done on purpose, yes. For what? Call UEFA. I do not have such information, I am not close to the Union and their internal issues. When will this attitude towards the Crimean territory change? This also falls within the competence of these same officials. Only they can know when they will stop nightmareing the political agenda,” he said.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also commented on the situation.
“We note with regret that anti-Russian sentiments have, alas, reached UEFA. Let me remind you that UEFA, by its Charter, undertakes to “develop and promote the game of football, excluding any religious, racial or political discrimination.”
Moreover, no sports organization has the competence to qualify territorial affiliation,” she said.
Maria Zakharova emphasized that it is quite obvious that behind this lies Kyiv’s desire to use any international platform to once again start an anti-Russian scandal.
“UEFA, a respected organization, should not allow itself to be drawn into the provocative actions of Ukrainian football officials,” added the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
She also recalled the previous scandal at the 2022 European Championship, when the Ukrainian team showed up wearing T-shirts with Nazi slogans.
“Aggressive, revanchist and extremist ideas cannot be allowed to enter sports. We would ask the UEFA leadership to pay close attention to this,” Zakharova concluded.
English version :: Read in English: "They fell for the Kiev provocation" – Zakharova responded to UEFA's antics