FIFA and UEFA have together banned Russia indefinitely from competitive football following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions, respectively took these decisions on ‘such urgent matters’ today after crunch meetings.
The immediate implications of this ban are that:
- Russia will miss out on Qatar 2022 since they will not be able to play against Poland in next month’s World Cup playoffs.
- Russia won’t take part in the Women’s European Championships this summer.
- Spartak Moscow have been disqualified from the round 16th stage of the Europa League. In effect, RB Leipzig have automatically qualified to the quarter finals and have become the first side to do so in this year’s campaign.
“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”, a joint statement from the bodies read.
