Fifa and UEFA on Monday suspended all Russian teams from participating in their competitions “until further notice”.
The pressure was too much. The Russian national football team was to face Poland on March 24 in a play-off in Moscow to try to win a ticket to the 2022 World Cup (November 21-December 18). Nothing will happen. “FIFA and UEFA have decided that all Russian teams, whether national teams or clubs, will be suspended from participation in Fifa and UEFA competitions until further notice“, we learned Monday at the start of the evening, in a press release from the two authorities.
Clearly, Russia will not participate in the World Cup and Spartak Moscow, the last Russian club in the running for the European Club Cup, is excluded from the knockout stages of the Europa League, thus opening the doors to the quarters of C3 to the Germans from RB Leipzig. Last but not least, the Russian women’s national team is deprived of its participation in Euro 2022 in England (July 6-31). The Russian players were due to compete in Group C in the first round, along with the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
The situation had become untenable for Fifa and UEFA, while boycotts are increasing in various disciplines following the military operation initiated by the Kremlin in Ukraine last week. Poland had already indicated its refusal to play in Russia. Potential opponents of the Russians in the rest of the play-offs, Sweden and the Czech Republic had done the same.
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Four years after the World Cup… in Russia
A real thunderclap in the very political world of international football bodies. All this, four years after the World Cup organized… in Russia. France had won its second star there. Note that UEFA has also denounced its partnership with the giant Gazprom, also terminated by the German club Schalke 04. A contract estimated at 40 M€ per year for the European confederation, one of its main sponsors since 2012.
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«Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with everyone affected in Ukraine. The two presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and quickly so that football can once again be a vector of unity and peace between peoples“, jointly assure Fifa and UEFA.
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Earlier today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had “recommended to International Sports Federations and organizers of sports events not to invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and official representatives in international competitions».
Le Graët “leaned” for an exclusion of Russia
As far as football is concerned, several of the most influential federations have declared themselves in favor of sidelining Russia. “I lean for an exclusion of Russia from the next World Cup. This is my first impulse“, for example indicated the president of the FFF, Noël Le Graët, in The Parisian Sunday.
Russia is therefore more than ever isolated by the sports world, while we are still awaiting the decision of the International Paralympic Committee, which must take a position on Wednesday, two days before the start of the Paralympic Games in Beijing (March 4-13).
