The Russians, hosts of the last World Cup in 2018, are therefore disqualified from the playoffs of the next edition, which they had to play in late March with a ticket at stake for the tournament in Qatar (November 21-December 18).
In addition, Russian women’s team will not be able to play the Euro in England in July and Spartak Moscow, the last Russian club to play in the European Cup this season, is also out of the Europa League before facing RB Leipzig in the round of 16.
“Football here is totally united and in full support of all those affected in Ukraine. The two presidents [Gianni Infantino for FIFA and Aleksander Ceferin for UEFA] hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and quickly so that soccer can once again be a vector of unity and peace between peoples,” reads the statement.
Russia was due to play against Poland on March 24, but the Poles have repeatedly said they will not play, even on neutral ground.
FIFA and UEFA are thus partially following the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which recommended on Monday to the International Federations “not to invite” Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams in international sports competitions.
Deprived of the Qatari World Cup, Russia finds itself isolated by the sporting world, while waiting for the decisions of the International Paralympic Committee, which planned to express itself on Wednesday at two days of the kick-off of the Winter Paralympic Games of Beijing.
Several national federations, including that of the French world champions, had said they were in favor of a pure and simple exclusion of Russia from the World Cup, a major sporting event of the year 2022.
UEFA has also broken “with immediate effect” its partnership with the Russian giant Gazprom, one of its main sponsors since 2012.
The contract was estimated at 40 million euros per year, according to specialized media, and covered the Champions League, the international competitions organized by UEFA as well as the Euro-2024 which will be organized in Germany.
Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse