FIFA and UEFA have announced that all Russian teams, both international and club level, will be suspended from FIFA or UEFA competition ‘until further notice’.
It follows Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week and ongoing military aggression.
“Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, 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,” a statement read.
“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.”
It means that Russia will not be allowed to compete in next month’s qualifying playoffs for the 2022 World Cup. Spartak Moscow will also be kicked out of the Europa League, having reached the last 16 stage last week, while Russia’s women’s team will be dropped from Euro 2022 in summer.
FIFA had earlier been criticised for taking action seen as too weak. On Sunday, the world governing body ruled that Russia could continue in its attempts to qualify for the World Cup, as long as they played under the name Football Union of Russia without using a flag or national anthem.
The subsequent backlash from that and pressure for stronger action has led to firmer sanctions.
At the same time, UEFA have additionally confirmed that they are ending their longstanding partnership with Russian energy giant 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.
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Source : 90min