The decision came Monday from FIFA and UEFA, saying Russia’s
national teams and clubs were suspended “until further notice.”
“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with
all the people affected in Ukraine,” FIFA and UEFA saiad. “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.”
UEFA also ended its sponsorship with Russian energy giant
Gazprom.
International sports bodies moved to further isolate Russia
on Monday for its invasion of Ukraine and pushed Moscow closer to becoming a
pariah on the playing field.
The International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies to
exclude Russian athletes and officials from international events, including
soccer’s World Cup.
The IOC said it was needed to “protect the integrity of
global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”
The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of
soccer, to exclude Russia from the World Cup ahead of qualifying playoff on
March 24. Poland already has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.
It was unclear how the IOC’s request will affect Russian
hockey players in the NHL and tennis players, including top-ranked Daniil
Medvedev, in Grand Slam, ATP and WTA tournaments outside the authority of the
International Tennis Federation.
FIFA was in talks with European soccer body UEFA on the
details of suspending Russia’s national and club teams, people with knowledge
of the discussions told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss private discussions before FIFA and UEFA decision-makers
can ratify the ban later Monday.
With a direct impact on Russia playing World Cup qualifiers
next month, FIFA already said Sunday it was talking to the IOC about excluding
the country from competitions “should the situation not be improving rapidly.”
The IOC also went directly after President Vladimir Putin,
who turned the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics into a personal project. Putin’s
golden Olympic Order, which was awarded in 2001, has been withdrawn, the IOC
said in a statement.
The Olympic body’s call also applied to athletes and
official from Belarus, which has abetted Russia’s invasion by allowing its
territory to be used to station troops and launch military attacks.
The IOC said it acted “with a heavy heart,” but noted that
the impact of war on Ukrainian sports and athletes who cannot now take part in
competitions outweighed the potential damage done to athletes from Russia and
Belarus.
It was not a total blanket ban by the IOC, which also did
not specifically suspend the national Olympic committees of Russia and Belarus.
Where exclusion was “not possible on short notice for
organizational or legal reasons,” then teams from Russia and Belarus should
compete as neutral athletes with no national flag, anthem or symbols, including
at the upcoming Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
Russian Olympic committee leader Stanislav Pozdnyakov said
in a statement “there is only one comment to make -- we categorically
disagree,” adding it would help national federations to challenge
“discriminatory rulings.”
Sports bodies across Europe already had moved against Russia
on Monday by refusing to host or play against teams from the country.
Finland wants the Russian hockey team banned from the men’s
world championships it will host in May, the Swiss soccer federation said its
women’s team will not play Russia in July at the European Championship, and
German soccer club Schalke said it had decided to end its longstanding
partnership with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
Over the weekend, FIFA declined to ban Russia from the World
Cup. Instead, it said the country’s national team will have to compete under
the name of its federation, the “Football Union of Russia” as punishment.
Besides Poland, potential opponents Sweden and the Czech Republic have said
they would refuse to take the field against Russia.
“The Swedish Football Association is disappointed with
FIFA’s decision but is determined to continue to work together with other
federations to cancel Russia’s matches in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers,”
the body said Monday, citing the “illegal and deeply unjust invasion of
Ukraine.”
The World Cup is scheduled to begin on Nov. 21 in Qatar.
In European club soccer, Russian team Spartak Moscow is
still scheduled to play next week in the Europa League against German club
Leipzig. UEFA allowed Spartak to take its place in the round of 16 draw on
Friday, one day after Putin ordered the invasion to start.
UEFA called a meeting of its executive committee for later
Monday and is expected to exclude Russian teams from its competitions based on
the IOC announcement. The FIFA Bureau was set to only require the six regional
confederation presidents to confirm the decision in writing.
The moves are not unprecedented. Following United Nations
sanctions in 1992, FIFA and UEFA expelled Yugoslavia from its competitions when
war broke out in the Balkans.
Besides Schalke’s effort to drop Gazprom as a partner, UEFA
also is expected to see if it can nullify sponsorship deals with the company.
Gazprom sponsors both the Champions League and the European Championship.
FIFA had tried to compromise Sunday by suggesting Russia
play at neutral venues without its flag and anthem and under the Football Union
of Russia name.
That aligns with sanctions imposed by the Court of
Arbitration for Sport in December 2020 to punish Russia for state-backed doping
and cover-ups of cheating, and applied at last year’s Tokyo Olympics and this year’s
Winter Games in Beijing.
If Russia plays Poland as scheduled on March 24 and wins,
the team would then face either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29.
Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said
Sunday it was “totally unacceptable” that FIFA had not immediately expelled
Russia from World Cup qualifying and said Poland is “not interested in
participating in this game of appearances.”
Another future opponent, Albania, also said Sunday it would
not play against Russia in any sports. Russia and Albania are scheduled to meet
twice in June in the UEFA Nations League soccer tournament.
In hockey, the sport’s governing body has come under
pressure from Finland and Switzerland to ban Russia and Belarus, both due to
play at the world championships in May in Helsinki and Tampere.
Finnish Hockey Association chairman Harri Nummela said in a
statement Monday it had talks with the Zurich-based IIHF to exclude the two
countries from the sport internationally. -AP