Russian clubs and teams cast out of football, including World Cup, as FIFA, UEFA act on invasion of Ukraine

FIFA and UEFA have jointly announced that Russian clubs and national teams are suspended from all competitions until further notice following the invasion of Ukraine. The move means that Russia will not be able to compete at the men’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar or the women’s Euro 2022 in England, while Spartak Moscow will be forced out of the Europa League.

Ad/> The decision was reached in the wake of Russian president Vladimir Putin launching a full-scale attack on neighbouring Ukraine last week. Europa LeagueLeicester draw at home to Spartak as Vardy misses penalty04/11/2021 AT 18:52 «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,» read the joint statement.

«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.» Meanwhile, UEFA has also cut ties with sponsors Gazprom, the Russian energy giant.

Gazprom is one of the world’s largest natural gas firms and has close ties to the Russian government, given it is partly state-owned. FIFA had drawn criticism over the weekend when it said that Russia would still be able to compete, as long as it played games away from home and under the name ‘Football Union of Russia’.

Russia had been scheduled to face Poland in a World Cup qualifying play-off on March 24, but the Polish FA said they would refuse to participate in the match. England, Sweden and the Czech Republic have also said they will not play any matches against