German UEFA executives defend Russian U17 teams re-admission

German football officials Hans-Joachim Watzke and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have defended UEFA's decision to re-admit Russian under-17 teams to international competition amid boycott threats from several countries.
The executive committee of the European ruling body decided earlier in the week to allow these junior teams back without any national symbols, while upholding the ban of senior Russian teams as long as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues.
Watzke and Rummenigge are German members on the executive committee, and Watzke told Friday's Bild paper that the decision "is defintely no softening of our negative stance towards Russia. On the countrary, the senior teams remain excluded.
"This is about children who are not responsible for the heinous war and in whose lives no political will has been formed," the German Football Federation (DFB) vice-president added.
Rummenigge said: "Children are victims of the war. They are innocent and in need of help, bear no responsibility for this war and shouldn't be additionally punished. That's why I voted 'yes' to allow them participating in the game again."
The DFB is yet to comment on the UEFA decision while England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway and Finland have said they won't play against Russian teams.
Ukraine's FA has said it would boycott competitions with Russian teams as it condemned the decision and urged UEFA to review it.
Men's and women's U17 Euros are scheduled for next year in Cyprus and Sweden, respectively, with qualifying starting in October 2023.
The International Olympic Committee has recommended re-admission of athletes from Russia (and Belarus) into international competition, but only for individual athletes and not teams. But The IOC is yet to decide whether these athletes would be allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics.