FIFA and UEFA suspend Russian national teams and clubs, UEFA ends partnership with Gazprom
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Loading... - Kendra Cox
- 01 Mar 2022
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Earlier today, the International Olympic Committee recommended that athletes from Russia and Belarus should be banned from all international sports events.
Global governing body FIFA had faced criticism after it yesterday stopped short of banning Russia from international tournaments, including this year's men's World Cup in Qatar.
Today's measures would prevent Russia's men's team from playing next month's FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final against Poland and ban the country from the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 in England.
"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," a joint statement read.
"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."
UEFA also confirmed that it has terminated its lucrative sponsorship agreement with Russian multinational company Gazprom.
The existing deal had been due to run until 2024.
UEFA had already stripped Saint Petersburg of hosting this year's men's Champions League final, with the biggest match in men's European club football moved from the Krestovsky Stadium -sponsored by Gazprom - to the Stade de France in Paris.
FIFA introduced "immediate first measures" yesterday which included forcing Russia's national teams to compete under the Football Union of Russia (RFU) banner, banning the country's name, flag and anthem from all matches and requiring all home matches to be played at a neutral venue without spectators.
However, the refusal to expel Russia from international competitions faced a backlash, with several FIFA Member Associations declaring that they would not play any match against the RFU.
Poland had been due to travel to Russia for a World Cup qualifying playoff semi-final on March 24, but Cezary Kulesza - President of its Football Association - blasted FIFA's decision as "totally unacceptable.
The Polish Football Association (PZPN) doubled down on its refusal to play any match against a Russian national side, and insisted FIFA must expel the country from qualifying for the World Cup.
The PZPN and the equivalent bodies in Sweden and Czech Republic - who are due to meet in the other semi-final in path B of the World Cup qualifying playoffs in Europe - had all said they would not play Russia at any venue.
The English Football Association was among the numerous national organisations who adopted a similar stance, proclaiming "we won't play against Russia in any international fixtures for the foreseeable future".
England is set to hold the Women's Euro 2022 in July, a tournament for which Russia qualified for in April last year.
FIFA and UEFA's ruling prohibits the RFU from competing in Group C alongside The Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Read More…
