UEFA and FIFA on Monday announced, that Russia’s national teams are suspended until further notice. This comes hours after the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials be banned from international competitions on Monday evening.
UEFA followed suit with the suspension and have also terminated their sponsorship deal with the Russian state oil giant Gazprom. The decisions have been taken in the aftermath of Russia attacking 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,” the UEFA statement read on Monday evening.
“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.”
“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.”
FIFA’s suspension means Russia will not be able to play the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as they can’t take part in the play-offs in March. As per the calendar, Russia were to play Poland on 24 March. Russia's women also can’t compete at the 2022 Euro in England in July where they are in a group with the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
Spartak Moscow are also no more a part of the Europa League in this season.
Earlier on Sunday night, FIFA had said that Russia would not be allowed to play with the national flag and anthem, and that they’d have to play in neutral territory as well due to the invasion of Ukraine. FIFA had said the Russian players could play only under the name 'Football Union of Russia'.
However, along side the announcement, countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, England and Wales have all refused to play against Russia.
Last week, UEFA, stripped Saint Petersburg of the prestigious Champions League final tie on 28 May and relocated it to Paris. That apart, numerous clubs have taken steps to disassociate themselves from Russian sponsorships as well. UEFA is slated to hold an Executive Committee meeting on Monday evening to decide on several issues relating to Russian football.
On Monday, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte said: "The whole world has to be compact and show [it is] solid against the stupidity of the people."
He added, "I think it's right to express our disappointment about the stupidity about some decisions. Football and UEFA has to be compact and to show to be strong."
Russia had hosted the last World Cup in 2018 with the final held in Moscow attended by President Vladimir Putin.
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