No Euro in Russia for those who criticize Moscow.
Robert Kempe, a journalist for German public television ARD, had his accreditation for the matches in St. Petersburg canceled at the request of the Russian authorities, for having produced reports critical of the Kremlin.
The decision makes jump the association of German journalists (DJV) which protests in a press release "against the exclusion of the reporter of the ARD Robert Kempe from the Euro in Russia".
This "unacceptable attack on the freedom of the press (..) shows once again that Russia does not want critical articles, and that these have consequences for journalists", denounces the Association, which issues the press cards in Germany.
Der Ausschluss des Sportberichterstatters der @ARD_Presse Robert Kempe von der Fußball #EM in Russland ist ein Skandal!
Russische Behörden sollen Kempe laut #UEFA die Einreise verweigert haben.
# EURO2020 #ARD
Pressemitteilung: https://t.co/YC01zlNbsS pic.twitter.com/qYreliVNlp
- Journalisten-Verband (@DJVde) June 11, 2021
The DJV "expects UEFA to use its influence on local authorities so that our colleague can work".
But the European body replied in a statement that it was "not in a position to modify such a decision or to obtain detailed information on the reasons for the rejection of the request".
The reporter’s accreditation remains valid on all other Euro sites, says UEFA.
Robert Kempe, who specializes in investigating the links between sport and politics, recently worked on the relationship between Russian gas giant Gazprom and UEFA, which he has a critical eye on.
Before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he had carried out investigations on sensitive subjects for Russia, in particular on Chechnya, or on the hiring of North Korean workers for the construction of a stadium in Moscow.
