Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln is back in Europe. Before that, Effzeh would like to clarify something. Due to the attack on Ukraine, also backed by Belarus, he calls on UEFA to eject all Belarusian clubs from European competitions. That hasn't happened yet.
Before returning to the international football stage in the Conference League, Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln have demanded that the teams from Belarus be excluded from the competition. In a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, the board and management demanded compliance with the IOC's recommendation and the exclusion of both the Russian teams and the Belarusian teams from all European competitions.
"Among other things, 1. FC Köln is committed to liberality, diversity and peaceful coexistence. The board and management therefore strongly condemn the closeness of the Belarus government to Russia, which was openly communicated in connection with the Ukraine war, and the associated attitude . Belarus' massive support of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine not only violates the values and norms of 1. FC Köln, but against those of the entire sport," said the letter of July 19 to UEFA headquarters.
In addition, the legal legitimacy of such an exclusion was only recently confirmed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS. It is not enough to play the games involving Belarusian teams on neutral ground, as UEFA decided. The club also asks its members to share these demands on social media and support the appeal to UEFA.
The Cologne team also want to avoid an encounter with one of the four Belarusian teams BATE Borissow, FK Homel, FK Shakhtar Salihorsk and FK Dinamo Minsk. The Rhinelanders had qualified for the playoffs to participate in the group games in the Conference League as they were seventh in the table last season.
