Two of football’s top international bodies, Fifa and Uefa, both announced the suspension of Russian soccer teams in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“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,” according to a joint statement on Monday.
This immediate action means that Russia will not be participating in the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, nor will it be playing against Poland in a World Cup semi-final qualifier playoff in March. Its women’s team won’t be participating in the 2022 European Championship hosted in England.
Russian club teams will no longer compete in the Europa League, either.
“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,” said the statement.
Fifa had initially been criticized after it said it would let Russia continue to compete in the men’s World Cup playoffs.
Uefa has gone one step further and announced it cancelled its sponsorship deal with Russian gas giant, Gazprom. Gazprom had been the sponsor of the Champions League and Russia was supposed to host the finals in St Petersburg.
But Uefa moved the finals to Paris last week.
“Uefa has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions,” according to the statement.
“The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the Uefa Champions League, Uefa national team competitions and Uefa Euro 2024,” it added.
The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also issued a recommendation on Monday, calling for the exclusion of Russian and Belarussian athletes, officials, and teams from international competitions.
In addition to the football teams being banned, a statement by Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina called for a clear decision to be made by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
Svitolina said she wanted these three tennis associations to follow the IOC guidelines and only allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to be neutral athletes and not display any colors, flags or symbols of their countries.
“I do not blame any of the Russian athletes. They are not responsible for the invasion of our motherland,” said Svitolina in the statement.
“Moreover, I wish to play tribute to all the players, especially Russians and Belarussians, who bravely stated their position against the war. Their support is essential,” she added.
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