Balkan and Ukrainian Wars: How European Conflicts Affected Football

In the early 1990s, Yugoslavia was one of the strongest football teams in the world. In 1987, Yugoslavia became world junior champions with players such as Robert Prosinecki, Zvonimir Boban and Davor Suker, at the World Cup in Italy the A-team failed in the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout against Argentina, and in 1991 Red Star Belgrade won the championship cup. The multi-ethnic state then disintegrated into its sub-republics. Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence in June 1991 and war broke out in both countries.

The Yugoslavia national team qualified for the 1992 European Championship in Sweden. After the siege of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the spring of 1992, Yugoslav national coach Ivica Osim resigned on May 23, 1992. He, born in Sarajevo, believes that Yugoslavia does not deserve to participate in the European Championship.

A week later, the UN adopted a resolution excluding Yugoslavia from the European Championship. The beneficiary is Denmark, which rises to sensationally become European champions. Yugoslavia has also been banned from qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in the US and the 1996 European Championship in England.

On February 24, the Russian army invaded Ukraine. A few days later, the international sports federations responded. FIFA excludes Russia from the World Cup play-offs at the end of March, after Poland – Russia’s opponent – previously announced that it did not want to play against Russia.

On March 18, the International Sports Ground confirmed the exclusion of the Russian team from the competition. The planned play-off match between Scotland and Ukraine is postponed until June due to the war. Ukraine won in Glasgow, but were eliminated from the World Cup a few days later. The decisive match in Cardiff against Wales was lost 0-1. UEFA also imposes sanctions on Russia and excludes the women’s national team from participating in the European Championships in England. Portugal advances and defies the national team with a 2-2 draw in the opening match. To date, the Russian teams have been suspended.

The Belarusian national team is also affected by the conflict. UEFA does not exclude the country, which will officially become a contender in the autumn of 2022, from qualifying for the European Championship, but the home matches may not take place in Belarus for security reasons. The Swiss national team, which will play the away match against Belarus in Novi Sad, Serbia this spring, is also affected. The second stage takes place on Sunday in St. Gallen.