UEFA pays Russia $11+ million during full-scale war, while Ukrainian clubs receive nothing

Despite Russian clubs being banned from European competitions after Feb. 24, 2022, the Russian Football Union still received $3.6 million USD for the 2022/23 season, as well as $3.69 million USD and $4.6 million USD for the two previous seasons.

There was even a payment of $6.77 million USD for the 2021/22 season. The Russian Football Union is obliged to pass these funds on to its clubs.

At the same time, five Ukrainian teams have not received their solidarity payments — allegedly because they are located in combat zones.

These teams are: Phoenix-Mariupol, Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, Metalurh Zaporizhzhya, Chornomorets Odesa, and Real Pharma.

On July 27, these clubs directors sent a letter to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin complaining about the emergency situation caused by the delay in solidarity payments for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

“As a result of our communications with both the national association and UEFA officials, we were told that the obstacle to the above-mentioned payments is certain completely unclear requirements from a Swiss bank, allegedly related to the geographical location of the football clubs in a combat zone," the letters wrote.

"We have not received any further information or any legal justification for these payment restrictions. The wording used regarding the combat zone is completely incomprehensible to us and does not correspond to reality."

"The combat zone, or rather the zone of Russia’s military aggression, is not some specific region of our country — it is the whole of Ukraine.”

A UEFA spokesperson initially said they will provide a statement explaining the payments, but no response has been given so far.

Notably, despite the Russian clubs exclusion from European competitions, UEFA continues to award Russia points in the coefficient table. In July, Ukraine nonetheless managed to overtake Russia in the association rankings.