FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been criticised by the Ukrainian sports and foreign ministers for suggesting that the organisation should lift the ban on Russian teams. The country was banned following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Speaking to Sky News, Infantino suggested that FIFA and UEFA should “definitely” consider an end to the ban on Russian national and club teams that it placed in February 2022.
“Because this ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred,” Infantino said. “Having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help.”
He also said that he is against calls for a similar ban on Israel following its war in Gaza, saying that he does not think that any nation should be excluded due to “the acts of their political leaders.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha hit back on X, writing that “679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football, Russia killed them.”
“And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia’s failure to end its war,” Sybiha said. “Future generations will view this as a shame reminiscent of the 1936 Olympics.”
The country’s Sports Minister, Maviy Bidnyi, shared a similar sentiment, calling the FIFA President’s comments “irresponsible” and “infantile.”
“War is a crime, not politics,” Bidnyi said. “As long as Russians continue killing Ukrainians and politicising sport, their flag and national symbols have no place among people who respect values such as justice, integrity, and fair play.”
The Ukrainian Association of Football also expressed its disagreement with the comments by Infantino that the ban had achieved nothing, saying that the exclusion of Russia from football had been an “effective means of pressure” on the country to end the war. Allowing Russian teams to compete would “jeopardise the safety and integrity,” it added.
Image: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
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