March 7 – Europe’s leagues have moved to expel the Russian Premier League and the Football National League of Russia from their association.
The expulsion goes a step further than UEFA and FIFA who have chosen only to ban the Russian federation and its clubs from playing in their competitions.
The decision was made Friday as news broke from other sports of national federations refusing to participate in meetings with Russian representatives present.
The European Leagues made no comment on the membership of the Belorussian Pro League. While Russia has been launching part of its invasion of Ukraine from Belarussian territory, there has been no reliable confirmation that Belarussian troops have been involved in the invasion, though reports at the weekend were that Belarussian aircraft had been part of a military flight that had circled over Ukraine.
Once, and if, Belarus commits military forces to the invasion, then it is expected Belarus will also be excluded.
In their statement the European Leagues Association said: “The European Leagues Board of Directors have today decided, due the current extraordinary and tragic circumstances, to expel the Russian Premier League (Ordinary Member) and the Football National League of Russia (Associate Member) from the European Leagues’ Association.
“The European Leagues share solidarity to all the people affected in Ukraine and hope that the situation in the country will return promptly to normality.”
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