The decision was taken during a meeting held in Limassol in Cyprus today, with UEFA saying that "Russian teams of minor players will be readmitted to its competitions in the course of this season."

The Executive Committee has 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 have already been held.

The Committee also took the opportunity to reiterate its condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and confirmed that the suspension of Russian senior clubs and national teams would remain in place until the war ends.

"UEFA’s continuing suspension against Russian adult teams reflects its commitment to take a stand against violence and aggression," said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.

"UEFA is determined that this position will continue until the war is over and peace restored.

"But by banning children from our competitions, we not only fail to recognise and uphold a fundamental right for their holistic development but we directly discriminate against them.

"By providing opportunities to play and compete with their peers from all over Europe, we are investing in what we hope will be a brighter and more capable future generation and a better tomorrow."

Honorary President of the Russian Football Union Vyacheslav Koloskov described the decision as "excellent."

"This is an excellent decision, we can only applaud it," Koloskov said, as reported by Russia’s official state news agency TASS.

"But it is still unknown how it will be implemented in practice, because it is now difficult to fly to Europe, and some countries do not allow Russians in at all.

"We still need to find fields somewhere where we can play.

"The fact that UEFA has obliged European associations to accept us is already good, but there are still many unclear technical issues."

Meanwhile, Olympic speed skating champion and State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova feared there may be some boycotts following UEFA’s decision.

"Now there will be such a commotion and noise, boycotts will begin," Zhurova said.

"It’s interesting to watch this."

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on physical culture and sports Dmitry Svishchev described the development as "an important event in Russian and international football" adding: "This may be a signal for federations in team sports, as well as for the International Olympic Committee in terms of changing admission criteria."

Terms of the readmission include that all matches are played without the country's flag, anthem and national playing kit, and not on Russian territory.

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

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