The ongoing war in Ukraine forces the Crimean Tatars to withdraw from EUROPEADA 2024

The organisers of EUROPEADA 2024 are sorry to announce that the representative football team of the Crimean Tatars, FC Crimea had to withdraw from the competition due to the ongoing aggression war in the Ukraine.

“We very much hoped that the war would end and we would be able to take part at Europeada, which is important to us, but Russia did not stop seizing Ukrainian territories and killing civilians. We are soul with you, but we cannot take part in the body” – wrote the team’s representative in the letter announcing their withdrawal from the tournament.

FUEN and the European Minority Football Championship’s local organisers express their solidarity with the team and are hopeful that they will be able to participate the next time.

Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression, FUEN has repeatedly criticized Russia’s unjustified actions and expressed its concern for the Ukrainian citizens. FUEN, which has eight member organisations from Ukraine, continues to stand with all Ukrainian citizens.

Background

EUROPEADA 2024 will be hosted by the Sinti and Roma and the Frisian minority in Schleswig-Holstein, the German minority in Denmark and the Danish minority in Germany. The tournament will take place in 14 locations between 28 June-7 July 2024 with the participation of 26 teams in the men’s, 9 teams in the women’s competition.

FUEN is the founder and coordinator of the tournament and organises EUROPEADA together with the local organisers. Previously, the European Minority Football Championship was held in Graubünden/Switzerland (2008), Lausitz/Germany (2012), South Tyrol/Italy (2016) and Carinthia/Koroška, Austria (2022). It takes place every four years, usually in the same year as the UEFA EURO. The tournament is a major sporting event that combines fair competition and the excitement of a sports festival with the matters of the autochthonous, national minorities. Visit www.europeada.eu for more information.