The Ukrainian Football Association has appealed to the UEFA Control, Ethical and Disciplinary Body in connection with an incident that occurred after a group stage match of the 2026 European Futsal Championship between the national teams of Armenia and Ukraine.

Immediately after the final whistle, one of the Armenian national team players made a public offensive statement towards Ukraine, which was recorded on video during the match broadcast. The Ukrainian Football Association considers the actions of the Armenian national team player to be unsportsmanlike behavior, which is a violation of UEFA’s Disciplinary Rules.

In particular, Articles 11 (1), (2)(b), (c), (d) (General Principles of Behavior), Article 15 (1)(a)(iv), (v) (Unfair Conduct by Players and Officials), as well as Article 14 (1) (Racism and Other Discriminatory Acts) of the UEFA Disciplinary Rules, which provide for a ban from ten matches.

Also in the letter it is noted: "...the player in question has Russian origin and citizenship of the Russian Federation (which is confirmed by the personal data of the player on the official website of FC Tumen). Given the realities of the brutal war, initiated by the Russian Federation against Ukraine with the aim of destroying our state, infringing its independence, and killing Ukrainian citizens solely for their origin, national identity, and desire to live on their land, Russia and the Russian people daily demonstrate hatred and contempt towards Ukrainians in their actions and public statements at both state and private levels. Hate speech based on dehumanization and contempt due to national characteristics is a true manifestation of xenophobia – one of the most severe forms of discrimination. Thus, this case is much more serious than just unsportsmanlike behavior by a player from the national team during an official match of the 2026 UEFA European Futsal Championship under UEFA’s auspices, which was observed by millions of football community members. We emphasize that such hate speech and dehumanization are unacceptable from the perspective of human rights, fair play, and common values of the Football Family.

In light of the above, we request the UEFA Control, Ethical and Disciplinary Body to apply disciplinary sanctions against Denis Veydorov, a player from the Armenian national team, for unsportsmanlike behavior after the group stage match of the 2026 UEFA European Futsal Championship Armenia – Ukraine, which violates the UEFA Disciplinary Rules.