Fifa decided on Sunday, February 27. In reaction to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the international football body has decided that the next home matches of the Russian selection will take place on neutral ground, outside its territory. The Russian anthem and flag will also be banned.
FIFA reserves the right to take “additional sanctions, including potential exclusion from competitions”, while the exclusion of Russians from the 2022 World Cup has been mentioned in recent hours, in particular by the French Federation. These decisions, awaited by the sporting world for several days, have been taken “unanimously” by the office of the Council of Fifa, specifies the instance.
To participate in international competitions, in particular the play-offs of the 2022 World Cup scheduled for the end of March, Russia will have to do so under the name of “Russian Football Federation“(RFU), specifies the body headed by Gianni Infantino.
Sbornaya, nickname of the national team, is supposed to face Poland in the play-offs for the World Cup on March 24. The Polish federation, however, announced its refusal to play this meeting and judged this decision “totally unacceptable” in a press release. “We are not interested in taking part in this game of appearances. The national team of Poland WILL NOT PLAY against Russia, regardless of the name of the team”immediately reacted on Twitter Cezary Kulesza, president of the Polish Federation.
Today’s FIFA decision is totally unacceptable. We are not interested in participating in this game of appearances. Our stance remains intact: Polish National Team will NOT PLAY with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.
—Cezary Kulesza (@Czarek_Kulesza) February 27, 2022
Sweden and the Czech Republic, who may also have to challenge the Russians a few days later in the final of these play-offs, have also planned not to play these matches, according to press releases from their federations.
FIFA “took note” of these positions and “engaged in dialogue” with the associations concerned, with the aim of “find appropriate and acceptable solutions”.
Noël Le Graët, the president of the French Federation, said on Sunday that he would not oppose a Russian exclusion from the World Cup. The governing body of English football meanwhile announced in the evening that it would boycott all matches against Russia in “near future”.