The national football team of Ukraine will continue to play in the qualifying stage for the European Championship in 2024, despite the participation of the national team of Belarus. Earlier, the Ministry of Youth and Sports banned Ukrainian national teams from participating in competitions where there are national teams of Russia and Belarus.
The head of Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) Andriy Pavelko informed about this on his Facebook page.
He noted that the Ministry promptly sent the Association an explanation of its decision. They indicated that since UEFA decided to breed Ukrainian and Belarusian football teams during the draw, the ban on the participation of the Ukrainian national team does not apply. If there is an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting between Ukraine and Belarus, then the ban will be valid.
- In January 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended allowing Russians and Belarusians to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris under a neutral flag, and then criticized the decision of the Ukrainian government not to allow athletes to participate in the qualifying competitions for the 2024 Olympics shared with Russians and Belarusians. The IOC stated that "governments do not decide which athletes can participate in which international competitions."
- After that, the Ministry of Sports, by the decision of the government, forbade the national teams of Ukraine to participate in competitions where there will be Russians or Belarusians. The recommendation to admit them to the competition was supported by the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach.