Exclusive: Five Ukraine clubs failed to win similar payments due to allegedly being located in ‘zone of military operations’
Uefa has paid more than €10.8m (£9.4m) in “solidarity” funds to Russian football clubs since they were banned from taking part in European tournaments after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian can reveal.
The payments were made despite five Ukrainian clubs failing to receive similar such funds allegedly due to their locations being in a “zone of military operations”.
Solidarity payments are generally provided to clubs that fail to do well enough at the domestic level to get into European competitions. They are designed to “maintain competitive balance in Europe’s top divisions in light of the additional revenue some clubs receive through participation in European competitions”, according to Uefa.
Russian clubs and the country’s national team have been banned from taking part in international competitions since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
