FIFA bans Russia from World Cup qualifier

Russia will not be at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Following criticism from many in the world soccer community, FIFA on Monday suspended Russian soccer teams from international competitions due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ban from the world’s soccer federation means Russia will not be allowed to play its previously scheduled World Cup qualifier match against Poland on March 24. Poland, along with Sweden and the Czech Republic, all stated over the weekend that their soccer teams would not play Russia in the qualifiers. 

UEFA, Europe’s soccer federation, also suspended Russian teams from competition. 

“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine,” FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement. “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.”

The ban by FIFA and UEFA came just hours after the International Olympic Committee on Monday condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and called on sports bodies to exclude the country’s athletes from international events. The IOC, which also called on a ban of Belarusian athletes, said the decision was made “to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all participants.”

FIFA’s decision was a reversal of its ruling on Sunday that tried to find a middle ground between the refusal to play Russia by the three European countries and a just punishment for Russia’s soccer team. The federation had chosen to not ban Russia and to instead remove games from the country, force its athletes to play under the initialism “RFU” instead of Russia and ban the country’s flag and anthem from the qualifiers. The ruling was criticized by many, including the president of Poland’s football federation. 

#WeStandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/spRVx7NZbr

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) February 28, 2022

Russia was originally scheduled to host Poland on March 24, with the winner playing the winner of the Sweden-Czech Republic game on March 29 for a spot in the 2022 World Cup. It is unclear as of Monday afternoon how the qualifiers will be handled with Russia banned.

Additionally, if the suspension remains in place, Russia’s women’s team will also be banned from playing in the UEFA Euro 2022 tournament this summer in England.