European football's governing body voted to reinstate Russian youth teams last month in spite of the country's ban because of the invasion of Ukraine.

The Executive Committee also asked for a "technical solution" to be found to enable the reinstatement of Russian under-17 boys and girls teams to competitions, even if draws had already been made.

A number of countries criticised this stance and said they would refuse to play Russia, and UEFA did not discuss the issue at an Executive Committee meeting today.

"The agenda point was withdrawn as no technical solution to allow Russian teams to play could be found," a statement said.

UEFA had argued that "a generation of minors" should not be deprived of the right to compete in international football because of the war.

The decision was applauded in Russia, with the Honorary President of the Russian Football Union, Vyacheslav Koloskov, describing it as an "excellent" move.

However, Sweden, Denmark, England, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Poland announced that they would boycott if asked to play Russia.

Sweden, the host of the 2024 European Under-17 Women's Championships, said the country would not be allowed to play there.

Karl-Erik Nilsson, UEFA's first vice-president, was forced to step down as chairman of the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) last week after it emerged he had voted in favour of allowing Russian youth teams back.

This was against the policy of the RF, as well as the Swedish Football Association who he used to lead and the Swedish Government.

Sweden's Minister for Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed was among those to criticise Nilsson, describing his decision to vote in favour of Russia's young squads as "remarkable".

Nilsson had initially denied a Sky News claim that he had voted in favour of UEFA's plan, claiming he "did not recognise myself" in the channel's reporting of the issue.

But he later backtracked, claiming UEFA had simply agreed to "review" the issue and that he still stood for the stance of Swedish sport.

This was despite UEFA reporting that allowing Russian youth teams back was set in stone.

Sky News also reported that Nilsson was the second person to speak at the meeting, following UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.

Now that the decision has been reversed, Nilsson has said the "review" has found that allowing Russian youth teams back is not possible, and that the way UEFA initially worded the announcement was "strange".

He said opposition from other countries played a part, adding to SVT: "In the overall picture, it certainly played a role.

"There hasn't been massive European criticism, but the criticism there has mostly been from Scandinavia and the British Isles."

Jesper Møller Christensen, the chairman of the Danish Football Association and another UEFA Executive Committee member, is also facing pressure after reportedly voting in favour of Russian reinstatement as well.

In February 2022, UEFA suspended all Russian teams from its competitions, shortly after the start of the country's invasion of Ukraine.

It also cancelled a sponsorship contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom and moved the UEFA Champions League Final and UEFA Super Cup away from Saint Petersburg and Kazan respectively.   

Alexander Medvedev, the chairman of Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg, told Sport-Express that UEFA had succumbed to "blackmail" from opposing countries by reversing its decision.

"Zenit met this decision with great disappointment," he said.