Ban Belarus: UEFA’s ‘neutral’ policy does not go far enough
UEFA must go further than allowing Belarus to play behind closed doors, and ban them from competing while the country continues to violate human rights and enable Russian war crimes, say Scottish Greens.
Scotland fans will not be able to attend the World Cup qualifier game in Hungary this September, because UEFA decided that Belarus matches must be played on ‘neutral’ grounds and behind closed doors due to their ongoing support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP wrote to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin earlier this month, urging the football body to ban Belarus from all competitions.
Mr Harvie said:
“UEFA rightly banned Russia for their criminal domestic and international record, and they must follow suit with those countries who enable war and have a shocking history of human rights violations, like Belarus does.
“The continued participation of Belarusian sports teams in UEFA competitions flies in the face of the organisation’s own supposed values, particularly its RESPECT campaign, which promotes fairness, dignity and human rights in football.
“Football is a globally uniting sport. UEFA’s platform holds a massive reach, and that can be used as a force for good to show that human rights and peace is the way forward. By allowing Belarus to continue competing, even behind closed doors, it sends the wrong message to the world. They must become a sporting pariah like Russia has become.
“Scotland fans may be disappointed in skipping the game, but morally it is the right thing to do.”