Daily Mail: UEFA allows Russians, Belarusians to keep their prominent positions

UEFA is under pressure to ditch Alexander Dyukov, the president of the Russian Football Union from its governing body, after 35 governments declared individuals closely aligned with the states of Russia and Belarus should be removed from sporting bodies.

Dyukov, the chief executive of a subsidiary of the Russian energy company Gazprom, has been sanctioned by the UK government for his close ties to the state and is one of a number of prominent Russians and Belarusians still involved in running European football, according to Daily Mail. 

They include another senior figure from Gazprom, a former member of the KGB, a high-profile politician from Russia's close ally Belarus, and the ex-wife of the sanctioned billionaire oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, who is also the step-great-granddaughter of Boris Yeltsin, the country's former president.

Despite UEFA's strong initial response to the war in Ukraine, which saw the governing body strip Russia of the Champions League final, ban its clubs and the national team from competition and end a huge sponsorship deal with Gazprom, it has allowed Russians and Belarusians to continue to play key roles in its governance.

In total, 22 positions are still filled by representatives of Russia and Belarus in various committees and panels at UEFA, a situation that is now attracting the interest of governments.

The demand for sporting bodies, including UEFA, to take more action against Russia and Belarus, came as Ukraine revealed over 100 stadiums and facilities have been destroyed by Vladimir Putin's invading army, since his 'special military operation' began on February 24.

Governments, including the UK, are furious that Russia continues to exercise influence and control over international sport, while systematically destroying Ukraine's sporting infrastructure.

Ukraine has published 'before and after photographs of a number of its facilities, which reveal a mass of twisted metal and rubble.

While athletes, clubs and national teams representing Russia and Belarus have been widely banned from the competition throughout the sport, both countries are still heavily involved in running international bodies.

And it's not just football; swimming, motor racing and tennis also have Russian and Belarusian influence in their governance, too.

UK Sports minister Nigel Huddleston is leading international demands to further ostracise Russia and Belarus, by insisting on the exclusion of their federations and state-linked representatives from governing bodies, in an extension of the 'sporting blackout'.

In a statement, Huddleston and his counterparts, including from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the US, said Russian and Belarusian sports organisations 'should be suspended from international federations'.

It added that 'individuals closely aligned to [those] states, including but not limited to government officials, should be removed from positions of influence' on boards and organising committees.

It also says that international federations 'should consider suspending the broadcasting of sports competitions in Russia and Belarus', as part of a 'sporting blackout'.

However, Russian broadcasters will be allowed to screen the action from the Women's Euro 2022, which began at Old Trafford on July 13, and a wide range of sports continue to allow both countries' representatives to actively participate in their governance.

In their statement, the sports ministers, which also include politicians from France, Austria and Italy, said: 'A further package of measures have been collectively agreed by international sports ministers of 35 like-minded nations from across the world, to galvanise efforts that ensure Russia and Belarus remain sporting pariahs on the global stage, in response to their unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine.'

Among the Russian and Belarusian representatives at UEFA are some very high-profile figures.

Dyukov, who holds senior positions on three UEFA committees, has held leading positions in the largest Russian oil and petrochemical companies, including Sibur, and Gazprom Neft.

He attended the UEFA Congress in Vienna in May as part of a Russian delegation. Dyukov's attendance was in sharp contrast to the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) President Andriy Pavelko, who appeared via video link from his war-torn country, wearing a bulletproof vest and speaking from a football stadium destroyed by artillery.

In sanctioning Dyukov, UK government documents state '[he] is a prominent Russian businessman, [who] is involved in obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia by working as a director of PJSC Gazprom Neft'.

Sergey Pryadkin, a former employee of the Soviet secret service, the KGB, and previously a lieutenant colonel in the military reserve, is the vice president of the Russian Football Union and president of the Russian Premier League. He continues to serve as the vice-president of the National Teams Competitions committee at UEFA

Alexander Medvedev is the general director of Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, and has been on the board of Gazprom, which was formerly one of UEFA's principal sponsors, since 2002, according to the club website.

The UK government has said Gazprom is 'an entity that is controlled directly by the Government of Russia'. Medvedev sits on the important Club Competitions Committee at UEFA, which has played a leading role in developing the revamped Champions League.

Meanwhile, the Russian VIP and publisher, Polina Valentinovna Yumasheva, sits on the Russian Football Union's executive and UEFA's Governance and Compliance Committee. She is the ex-wife of Russian billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska, with whom she has two children, and the step-granddaughter of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin.

According to Russian media, she received £420M in a divorce settlement when she split from Deripaska, which was reported to be in 2018.

The oligarch began building his fortune, now worth around £3 billion, by producing aluminium. Deripaska is under sanctions from the United States, Britain and the European Union, for his close ties to Putin.

There is Belarusian influence, too. Vladimir Bazanov is the president of the Football Federation of Belarus (BFF) and plays a role in overseeing youth and amateur football for UEFA.

Bazanov is an ally of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and a former soldier in the Soviet army with a specialism in artillery. 

When he was elected to become BFF president in 2019, UEFA noted that Bazanov is a deputy in the Belarus house of representatives and has held a number of positions in the country's national assembly, the state parliament.

#Belarus How personal sanctions work. The head of the Belarusian Football Federation, Vladimir Bazanov, will be deported from the Czech Republic. He reportedly came to the country to watch a game. Bazanov was included in the sanctions list of the Baltic countries pic.twitter.com/jET3fp6FW7

— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) November 30, 2021