Russia suspended by FIFA and will not compete in the World Cup in Qatar

FIFA announced on Monday (28) the suspension of Russia from all international football competitions. With that, the Russians will not be able to compete in the World Cup in Qatar this year. The decision was taken jointly with UEFA.

The national team would dispute the European repechage for the World Cup. The game against Poland, for the semi-final, was scheduled for March 23. The Poles had already said, through the country’s football federation, that they would not play the duel against Russia.

“Following the initial decisions taken by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, whose decisions provided for the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA jointly decided today that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or national teams, clubs, will be suspended from participating in FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.”

If the Russians managed to advance, they would face in the decision for a spot the winner of the confrontation between Sweden and the Czech Republic. The two national federations had also taken the position of not facing the Russian team.

FIFA’s decision, endorsed by UEFA, affects not only the men’s team, but also the youth teams, the women’s team and clubs in Russia in their international disputes.

Federations and world football top hats have been pressing the entity for drastic measures against Russian sport since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which began in the early hours of last Thursday (24) with the invasion of Vladimir Putin’s troops in Ukrainian territory.

This Monday, FifPro, the world union of football players, asked in the morning for Russia to suspend any tournament.

“Based on Russia’s actions in recent weeks, the participation of its teams in UEFA and FIFA competitions or the fulfillment of their executive functions in international football is not a possibility,” the union said in a statement.

“Fifpro supports all players and entities around the world who choose not to face Russian teams at this time.”

The International Olympic Committee was another important organization to take a stand on Monday, calling for the exclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus from international tournaments. In addition to the recommendation, they reported the withdrawal of the Olympic Order received by Putin in 2001.

The award, in theory, rewards effective contributions to the Olympic movement.

Until the announcement of Russia’s suspension, FIFA had only announced that the team could not play in its own country, in addition to the ban on the use of the national anthem and flag in competitions. The team was also supposed to compete under the name “Football Union of Russia”.

Now, the Russians are suspended from the playoffs and will not be able to participate in this year’s World Cup in Qatar, just under four years after hosting the World Cup in their country.

The 2022 edition of the tournament will start on November 21st and end on December 18th.

See the full FIFA statement

Following the initial decisions taken by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, whose decisions provided for the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA jointly decided today that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams , will be suspended from participating in FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.

These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters. Football is fully united here and in complete solidarity with all affected people in Ukraine. Both presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and quickly so that football can once again be a vector of unity and peace between peoples.