Russia to sit out World Cup as FIFA & UEFA take decisive action over invasion of Ukraine
Governing bodies FIFA and UEFA have released a joint-statement on Monday, confirming a hard stance against current developments in Russia.
The news of course comes amid a widespread backlash against Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine, stemming from Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into the separatist regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, and beyond.
This comes with both areas having seen their independence recognised by the Russian president on Monday.
The sporting world, in turn, is just one section of society to have quickly made their disgust with the situation clear, with the English FA, just last night, having confirmed that they will not take into consideration competing in fixtures against Russia at any level of the game ‘for the foreseeable future’:
“The FA can confirm that we won’t play against Russia in any international fixture for the foreseeable future”. pic.twitter.com/WH7MUMsbuM
— Ollie Bayliss (@Ollie_Bayliss) February 27, 2022
And now, as alluded to above, both FIFA and UEFA have followed suit, with the harshest possible sanction.
As confirmed in a statement on FIFA’s official website on Monday evening, all Russian clubs and national teams have been suspended from participation in football competitions across the globe until further notice.
This means that no club outfits from the nation will be permitted to take part in any of the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League.
Even more significantly, though, it too means that the Russian national team will play no part at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar later this year.
‘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.’
FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions
▶️ https://t.co/Q2htzW3W9z pic.twitter.com/LFo1bUtqmm
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) February 28, 2022
Gazprom out
In a further statement, meanwhile, UEFA have too confirmed on Monday their decision to end the organisation’s partnership with Gazprom, official sponsor of the Champions League, Euro 2024 and more:
UEFA has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions.
The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024.
— UEFA (@UEFA) February 28, 2022
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