Ukraine invasion: European countries condemn Fifa for refusing to expel Russia from football
- Fifa ruled the squad can play using the ‘RFU’ acronym for the country’s football federation
- Fifa drew a swift backlash from European nations for not immediately expelling Russia
Fifa drew a swift backlash from European nations for not immediately expelling Russia from World Cup qualifying and only ordering the country to play without its flag and anthem at neutral venues under the name of its federation – the Football Union of Russia.
Protesting against Fifa’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland said it would still refuse to play the country in a World Cup play-off semi-final, which is scheduled for March 24.
“Today’s Fifa decision is totally unacceptable,” Polish football federation president Cezary Kulesza tweeted. “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.”
The unanimous ruling by the Fifa Bureau, featuring the six regional football confederation presidents, was also that the Russian flag and anthem cannot be associated with the team.
“Fifa will continue its ongoing dialogue with the IOC, Uefa and other sport organisations to determine any additional measures or sanctions,” Fifa said in a statement, “including a potential exclusion from competitions, that shall be applied in the near future should the situation not be improving rapidly.”
The decision adopts the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling before the invasion of Ukraine, punishing Russia’s cover-up of the investigation into state-sponsored doping. It meant the Russians had to compete at the last two Olympics as the ROC team. Fifa had stalled implementing the ban on Russia competing under the country’s name until a potential qualification for the World Cup.