Poland reacted angrily
FIFA imposes first sanctions on Russia
02/27/2022 at 9:21 p.m
On Thursday, FIFA President Infantino hoped for a quick end to the Ukraine conflict. FIFA has been silent for a long weekend about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have announced a boycott. And the Poles also see the actions that have now been taken as a farce.
The world football association FIFA has imposed the first sanctions on Russia. But that might not be the end. For the time being, no more international games may be played in Russia. Sbornaya’s home games must be played on neutral ground. At these, an anthem will no longer be played and the Russian flag will no longer be visible.
The national team is also no longer allowed to appear under the name of Russia. In the future, it must compete under the association name RFU. At the same time, FIFA threatened a complete exclusion. The decision was made unanimously, the world association announced.
“First of all, FIFA would like to reiterate its condemnation of the use of force by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine,” the world governing body said in a statement. “Violence is never a solution. FIFA expresses its solidarity with all people affected by what is happening in Ukraine.”
The world association called for the “urgent restoration of peace” and “the immediate establishment of a constructive dialogue”. FIFA said it was in close contact with the IOC, the European Football Union UEFA and other sports bodies “to determine additional measures or sanctions, including a possible ban from competitions, to be applied in the near future should the not improve the situation quickly.”
European football takes on Russia
Poland’s association president Cezary Kulesza described the sanctions imposed by FIFA as “unacceptable”. He wrote on Twitter: “We are not interested in pretend play. Our position remains unchanged: Poland national team will NOT play a game against Russia. It doesn’t matter what the name of the Russian team is.”
During the weekend, the associations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic had already announced that they did not want to play Russia in the upcoming playoffs for the World Cup in Qatar. “Enough of the words, it’s time to act,” Kulesza said on Saturday. “Due to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Poland does not plan to play against the Russian team. This is the only right decision.”
The French football association FFFD had called for Russia to be excluded from the World Cup finals in Qatar on Sunday via the head of the association, Noel le Graet, in the newspaper “Le Parisien”. “The world of sport, and football in particular, cannot remain neutral. I will certainly not oppose Russia’s exclusion,” said Le Graet.
The English football association FA also declared late on Sunday that it no longer wanted to play international games against Russia in the “foreseeable future” due to the “atrocities committed by the Russian leadership” and “out of solidarity with Ukraine”. This applies not only to the men’s national team games, but to all levels of the game including youth and parafootball games.