FIFA and UEFA suspend Russia from all competitions

Monday, 28 February 2022 22:08

By Reuters

FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia's national and club teams from all competitions until further notice due to the country's invasion of Ukraine, the bodies said in a joint statement on Monday.

"Football is 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," the statement read.

The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year's World Cup and the women's Euro 2020 tournament.

Russia were scheduled to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff on March 24 and if they remain suspended at that time, they would be out of the World Cup and unable to progress to the finals in Qatar in November.

The Polish FA had said that they will refuse to play against the Russian team and the Czech Republic and Sweden, who are in the same playoff 'path', had also ruled out facing Russia.

The only way Russia could still feature in the playoffs would be a sudden improvement in the situation in Ukraine leading to a lifting of the suspension.

"Both Presidents (of the football bodies) 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 said.

The organisation said a further decision would be made at a later date about the impact on the women's Euro 2022 tournament in England in July which Russia have qualified for.

The decision means that Spartak Moscow will not play their Europa League match against club RB Leipzig and so the German club will advance to the quarter-finals.

UEFA also cancelled its sponsorship deal with Russian energy company Gazprom in reaction to the Russian military action against Ukraine.

"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," European football's governing body said.

The sponsorship deal has been in place since 2012 and has been reported to be worth around 40 million euros per season.

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