Ukraine war: Cologne calls for Belarusian teams to be banned from UEFA competitions

July 22 - Bundesliga club Cologne have called for the exclusion of Belarusian teams from European competitions due to the country's support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Cologne says it has written to UEFA asking to add Belarusian clubs to the ban on Russian teams and rally support from other clubs.

Cologne are set to contest the qualifiers for a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage with Belarusian clubs BATE Borisov, Gomel, Shakhtyor Soligorsk and Dinamo Minsk all potential opponents.

Cologne said it was "calling on UEFA to take decisive action and withdraw the teams from the competition" due to "the political situation and the Belarusian government's support for Russia during the invasion of Ukraine".

Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has allowed the country's forces to use its territory to attack Ukraine.

UEFA's decision to exclude Russian clubs and national teams from all its events was confirmed last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

So far, they have allowed Belarusian teams to continue playing, as long as matches are held outside Belarus and without fans.

But Cologne said it strongly condemned "the Belarusian government's openly communicated closeness to Russia as well as the behavior associated with the war in Ukraine" and encouraged its members to support its call for the total exclusion of clubs.< /p>

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