Andriy Yarmolenko: Ukraine captain calls for Russia to be 'totally isolated' from all professional sport

Andriy Yarmolenko, captain of the Ukrainian football team, has called for Russia to be «isolated on every level» from sport. UEFA announced this week that Russia will be excluded from the qualification process for Euro 2024. Ad It continues a ban by the European football governing body and FIFA on Russian participation in international football brought in after the nation invaded Ukraine in February.

World Cup Qualification UEFABale to postpone retirement 'for a little bit' after Wales qualify for World Cup05/06/2022 AT 19:25 Yarmolenko, who has won 109 caps for his country, described Russia as a «country of terrorists» ahead of Ukraine's Nations League encounter with Scotland, emphasising his belief that a total exclusion from sport is the right approach. “My thoughts are quite simple,” the winger, now of Al Ain after a four-year stint at West Ham, said. “Russian football, Russian sport should be totally isolated.

This is a country of terrorists, a country that kills Ukrainians, that kills Ukrainian children. «We cannot just talk about sport when something like that is happening. All the Ukrainian players want Russia to be isolated on every level.

“We cannot allow Russia to take part in any competition whilst its army are killing the civilian population in Ukraine. The stand of the Ukrainian team is unified; Russia should be banned from everything.” Russia's absence from the draw scheduled for October 9 for the 2024 European Championship continues a blanket ban on Russian clubs and national sides from UEFA and FIFA competitions. In tennis, Russian players — and those from Belarus, a geopolitical ally of the country — have been permitted to continue to compete on the ATP and WTA Tours, but not under the name or flag of