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In a major turn of event, FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russian teams from competing in club and international competitions, denying them entry to the 2022 World Cup and Women's Euro 2022.
These decisions were adopted on Monday (February 28) by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters. Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people
A statement from FIFA and UEFA read: “Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
“These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.
“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people,” the statement added.
The news comes a day after FIFA announced that in light of the Russian invasion, no international football matches would be played in the country in the foreseeable future. On Sunday, though, FIFA had said that Russia would still be allowed to continue with their World Cup qualifying campaign.
FIFA had also said Russia would have to compete in under the name "Football Union of Russia (RFU)." No flag or anthem of Russia was to be used in matches featuring the Russian team. FIFA had made that announcement a day after Poland became the first country to act.
"We can't pretend that nothing is happening," the country's star striker Robert Lewandowski posted on Twitter.
Meanwhile, it has not yet been confirmed whether Poland will receive a bye to their play-off final against Sweden or Czech Republic, or whether they will face another opponent. All three nations had said they would refuse to play against any Russian side. UEFA will also decide at a later date whether Russia’s women’s team will be able to compete at the Women’s European Championship this summer.
FIFA had previously said it would allow a Russian side to compete under the name “Football Union of Russia” (RFU), but not play matches in the country or display flags. The ban from FIFA follows international condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
