Swiss lawmakers call on UEFA to ban Belarus from Euro 2024

GENEVA - A group of Swiss parliamentarians has written an open letter to the UEFA president, saying that the Euro 2024 football qualifying match between Belarus and Switzerland scheduled for March 25 "must not take place." The letter to Aleksander Ceferin of Slovenia was signed by 30 members of both houses of the Swiss parliament from 13 of the 26 Swiss cantons, reported Anadolu Agency.

They called on the European football body to exclude Belarus from the 2024 European football championship, according to the human rights organisation Libereco.

"That the Swiss national team should play in a European Championship qualifying match against the team of a country responsible for the most serious human rights violations and supports the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is something we cannot condone," the letter read.

While UEFA has excluded Russia from all competitions, Belarus is still allowed to participate, said Lars Bunger, president of Libereco Switzerland.

He said the decision contradicted the decision of the International Olympic Committee, which excluded Belarus and Russia equally from all competitions.

More than 100 members of the European Parliament have also written to UEFA with the same call.

Under its long-time president Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus is an ally of Russia and is accused of allowing Moscow to use its territory for its war on Ukraine.

The former Soviet Union country is also accused of severe human rights abuses, particularly after the disputed elections in 2020. - BERNAMA