FIFA bans Russian teams from the World Cup
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations Champions League (UEFA) announced on Monday Feb. 28 that they have banned Russia from FIFA and UEFA games until further notice, and Russian teams will not be participating in the World Cup this year. The UEFA has also moved the 2022 Champions League final from St. Petersburg, Russia to Paris, France. These actions are in response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Russia has yet to appeal the decision.
This unprecedented action was carried out swiftly, even before the United Nations had publicly condemned the actions of Russia.
FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement that “football is fully united… 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.”
This statement came after FIFA was criticized for a lack of sufficient response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Initial pressure for such a ban came from Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Other countries such as the United States, France and England refused to play against Russia in the World Cup should they have to.
FIFA has condemned the invasion, and further announced that any home games scheduled in Russia would be rescheduled to neutral locations. The public was quick to ridicule the decision, claiming it was too lenient and that further action needed to be taken.
In particular, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) urged athletic administrations to exclude athletes representing Russia from participating in international events. The IOC said that banning Russian athletes from international games and matches will “protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all participants.”
Other international sports organizations and countries have begun to follow suit. World Rugby has suspended Russian and Belarusian participation in international rugby for the time being. Finland and Switzerland are advocating for Russian athletes to be banned from the men’s world championships to take place in May. In addition, the IOC removed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Golden Olympic Order, awarded to him in 2001.
While the geopolitics on this matter play out, international sports have been scrambling to remove Russian athletes from international competitions.
FIFA and UEFA originally hesitated to completely ban Russia from international soccer because of the lack of support from the U.N. concerning the invasion. Considering the many nations who have not shown strong support for Russia, or in the case of countries such as India, China and the United Arab Emirates, a complete abstention from the issue, it seems that FIFA wanted to be sure that the public would support their decision.
FIFA and UEFA did not ban Russia prior to this incident, most likely because they wanted other international sports organizations to support the ban before taking such an unprecedented and hard action.
According to ESPN, it is very unlikely that the Russian men’s soccer team will be allowed to play, as readmittance would likely require Russia to withdraw from Ukraine and establish a peace agreement. This is not likely to happen before the World Cup games begin on Thursday Mar. 24. There may be hope for the women’s team, as they do not begin playing for another four months.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/sports/soccer/fifa-russia-ban.html?auth=link-dismiss-google1tap
https://sports.yahoo.com/russia-world-cup-fifa-ban-war-ukraine-165442530.html
