Is Russia banned from Euro 2024? Why Russian national team will not be going to Germany, sanctions explained

The Russian football team has been banned from competing in Fifa and Uefa competitions.

As a result Russia have not been included in the draw for Euro 2024, which will be hosted in Germany.

Here we take a look at the impact that the war in Ukraine has had on Russian football and the way in which UEFA have reacted to ongoing troubles.

Why have Russia been banned from competing in the European Championships?

Russia have been suspended from all UEFA and FIFA competitions at international level since Vladimir Putin’s military launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

As a result of this decision Russia were banned from entering the 2022 World Cup and their play-off semi-final against Poland was cancelled. This led to Poland receiving a bye where they would automatically qualify for the play-off final. Russia has since appealed the bans to the court of Arbitration for Sport, however this appeal was dismissed by the governing body.

A UEFA statement said in July 2022: “All Russian teams are currently suspended following the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee on 28 February 2022 which has further been confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 15 July 2022. Russia is therefore not included in the UEFA European Football Championship 2022-24 qualifying draw.”

Despite qualifying for the tournament in England, Russia’s women’s team were excluded from the European Championship in 2022 and replaced by Portugal.

Can Russian football clubs still compete in Uefa competitions?

All Russian club sides are currently banned from entering any European Competitions such as The Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.

Prior to the sanctions in March 2022, the league had two Champions League spots - the league winners would automatically qualify for the group stage of the Champions League group stage and the runners up would enter the third qualifying round. Third place would automatically qualify for the Europa League and fourth and fifth would earn a place in the Europa Conference League.

As a result of the decision the likes of Zenit Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Dynamo Moscow, Krasnodar and CSKA Moscow will all miss out on playing in the European competitions.

The 2022 Champions League final was originally scheduled to take place in St Petersburg, however as a result of the sanctions the final between Real Madrid and Liverpool was instead played in Paris at the Stade de France.

Since the sanctions have been put in place in the Russian Premier League there has been a mass exodus of foreign footballers. One of the most notable examples of this has been displayed at Krasnodar. The Russian team lost out on eight players following the conflict in Ukraine including former French international Remy Cabella, Swedish winger Victor Claesson and Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak.

Former Norwich manager Daniel Farke also left Krasnodar following tensions in Ukraine without even managing a single game at the club.