German Footballer Roman Neustadter Made Russian Citizen Ahead of Euro 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to German professional footballer Roman Neustadter, as official information revealed.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to Soviet-born German professional footballer Roman Neustadter, according to the decree published on the official legal information website on Wednesday.

"In accordance with article 89(a) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation I decree to satisfy the application to grant the citizenship of the Russian Federation to Roman Neustadter, born on February 18, 1988 in Ukraine," the decree reads.

Earlier in May, Neustadter was picked by the Russian national team to represent the country in the upcoming 2016 UEFA European Championship. On Sunday, media reports emerged of the footballer renouncing his German citizenship in favor of becoming a Russian citizen. German law forbids adults to have dual citizenship.

Neustadter was on the German national team during Euro 2012. Previously, he had played for several German football clubs, starting with 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2006.

The UEFA Euro 2016 championship is due to take place between June 10 and July 10 in France.