BRUSSELS: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Thursday said European football’s governing body was not currently contemplating bringing Russia back into the international fold, after FIFA chief Gianni Infantino recently indicated he backed easing a ban on the country.

“UEFA’s position is clear and has not changed but we are looking into everything every day,” Ceferin told reporters at the UEFA Congress in Brussels.

Russia was expelled from all club and international competitions by UEFA in 2022 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, the International Olympic Committee has now recommended sports federations allow Russian teams to compete at youth level, and Infantino said earlier this month that the ban “has not achieved anything”.

His words provoked fury in Ukraine, which said the ban should be in place “as long as Russians continue to kill Ukrainians.”

Ceferin, who embraced Infantino and posed for photos with the FIFA president on stage on Thursday, appeared to leave the door open to a possible change of approach from UEFA.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2026