(Football news) FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia’s national and club teams from all football competitions until further notice. This means that until there is a significant change of course in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country will not only be eligible to face Poland in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers but will also be banned from competing in the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the Women’s European Championships. In addition, Spartak Moscow has been expelled from the UEFA Europa League.
UEFA have also announced that they have terminated their deal with Russian energy company Gazprom, which has been a major sponsor of the Champions League. UEFA’s sponsorship deal with Gazprom has been in place since 2012 and is worth around £33.4m (€40m) per season. German club Schalke 04 had also announced a few days ago that they had ended their sponsorship with Gazprom following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A joint FIFA and UEFA statement read: "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters. 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."
Both FIFA and UEFA have been under intense pressure from other countries to go further in their sanctions after the world football governing body had initially said that Russia could compete under the name 'Football Union of Russia' and compete at neutral venues. Following the announcement, Poland, Sweden, Czech Republic, England and Ireland declared that they will refuse to play in matches against Russia.
UEFA Europa League’s tie between Spartak Moscow and RB Leipzig will not take place and the German club will automatically progress to the quarterfinals. A UEFA statement read: "As a consequence of today's decision by the UEFA Executive Committee to suspend Russian club and national teams from taking part in UEFA competitions until further notice, the UEFA Europa League matches between RB Leipzig and FC Spartak Moskva cannot take place, and, as a consequence, RB Leipzig are qualified to the quarter-finals of the competition".
In response to UEFA's decision, Spartak Moscow say it is "extremely upsetting" and one "we do not agree with", but are "looking forward to a speedy achievement of peace". A club statement read: "This verdict is connected to the organisations' position on recent events that have taken place in Ukraine. The recent decision taken by UEFA and FIFA, although expected, is extremely upsetting. Unfortunately, the efforts that our club made in the Europa League have been nullified for reasons that are far outside the remit of sports.
"Spartak has millions of fans not only in Russia, but all over the world. Our successes and failures bring people from dozens of different countries together. We believe that sport, even in the most difficult times, should aim to build bridges, and not burn them. We are forced to obey a decision that we do not agree with. For now, we shall focus on domestic competitions, and are looking forward to a speedy achievement of peace that everybody needs."
UEFA has said that a decision regarding the impact of Russia’s expulsion from the Women's Euro 2022 tournament in England in July will be made at a later date. The decision is also expected to affect the UEFA Nations League later this year with Russia expected to play Albania twice in June followed by matches against Israel and Iceland.
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