Teams from Belarus and Ukraine prevented from being drawn against each other

The UEFA Executive Committee has today decided to prevent teams from Belarus and Ukraine from being drawn against each other in any future UEFA competitions with immediate effect and until further notice.

On 3 March 2022, the UEFA Executive Committee had already decided, that since the invasion of the Ukrainian territory by the Russian army had been facilitated by access given from the neighbouring territory of Belarus, no UEFA competition match shall be played on the territory of Belarus until further notice and no spectators shall attend matches in which the teams from Belarus features as host.

Today’s further decision is made to ensure the smooth running of UEFA competitions as the safety and security of the teams, officials and other participants may not be fully guaranteed due to the existence of a military conflict.

The UEFA Executive Committee will remain on standby to convene further meetings to reassess the legal and factual situation as it evolves and adopt further decisions as necessary.

The UEFA Executive Committee today also approved special rules for the final tournament of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 taking place in England from 6 to 31 July 2022, in order to guarantee the smooth running and continuity of the competition in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once the player list has been submitted on 26 June 2022, the current regulations allow unlimited replacements on the player list in case of serious injury or illness before the first match, provided that the replacements are medically certified.

For the sake of clarity, players who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have been anyway put in isolation are considered cases of serious illness and can therefore be replaced before the first match with the approval of the UEFA administration.

The new regulations will now also allow goalkeepers to be replaced before each match during the tournament in case of physical incapacity even if one or two goalkeepers from the player list are still available.

To ensure the integrity of the competition, a player who has been replaced on the player list cannot be readmitted to the list.