After “initial measures”, allowing Russia to continue its attempt to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, despite the refusal of its opponents to play against it, a final decision was taken, namely to exclude Russia from the World Cup scheduled for Qatar.
In a joint statement with the European Confederation (UEFA), FIFA announced the suspension of national teams and Russian clubs “until further notice”.
“Football here is totally united and in full support of all those affected in Ukraine. The two presidents (Gianni Infantino for FIFA and Aleksander Ceferin for UEFA, editor’s note) 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 explain FIFA and UEFA.
Russia was due to play a play-off on March 24 against Poland, but the Poles have repeatedly said they will refuse to play it, even on neutral ground.
FIFA and UEFA thus partially follow the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which on Monday recommended to the International Federations “not to invite” Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams to international sports competitions.
The Russians, hosts of the last World Cup in 2018, are therefore disqualified from the play-offs of the next edition, which they were to play at the end of March with a ticket at stake for the tournament in Qatar (November 21-December 18), and their female selection will not be able to play the Euro in England in July. Spartak Moscow, the last Russian club engaged in the European Cup this season, is also excluded from the Europa League before facing RB Leipzig in the round of 16.
Deprived of the Qatari World Cup, Russia finds itself isolated by the sports world, pending the decisions of the International Paralympic Committee, which planned to speak on Wednesday two days before the start of the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.
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