The pressure of sport intensifies: the FIFA an exclusion of World Cup Russia-2022 due to the invasion of Ukraine and adopted a first package of measures.
After three days of silence, the International Football Federation (FIFA) ended up joining this Sunday night in the mobilization of world sport against Russia.
In a first package of sanctions, adopted unanimously by its Council, the FIFA imposed on the selection of Russia play their home games outside their territory and banned the Russian anthem and flag in all their competitions.
FIFA detailed that the national team will not compete as Russia, but as the Russian Football Union (RFU), and that any match will be held without fans on “neutral territory”.
These measures, similar to those taken by UEFA in its club competitions, fall short for some football players, supporters of the outright exclusion of Russia from the 2022 World Cup, an event whose previous edition, in 2018, was organized by the Russians.
Poland insists on not playing
After qualifying the plan of the FIFA as “completely unacceptable”, the patron saint of Polish football Cesary Kulesza he tweeted. “We are not interested in participating in this kind of game. Our position remains intact: the Polish team WILL NOT PLAY against Russia, no matter what that team is called,” she stressed.
The World Cup playoff match between the two countries was scheduled for March 24 in Moscow.
Sweden and Czech Republicpotential rivals of Russia in the play-off final five days later, they also announced their refusal to face that country.
The FIFAwho claimed to be in contact with the federations of these three countries, reserves the right to reserve the right “to additional sanctions, including a possible exclusion from competitions, which will be applied in the near future if the situation does not improve quickly.”
Hours before, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët, was in favor of this measure.
The world of sport, and in particular football, cannot remain neutral. I will not oppose an exclusion of Russia”, declared the boss of the “Bleus”, current world champions, to the newspaper Le Parisien.
Almost simultaneously with the announcement of the FIFAanother of the powers of world football, the English Federation (FA), announced that it will prohibit any of its teams at any level from facing its Russian counterpart “in solidarity with Ukraine and to unreservedly condemn the atrocities committed by the Russian leaders” .
Faced with these pressures, will FIFA finally give in and deprive Russia of the possibility of qualifying for the biggest event in world football? (scheduled from November 21 to December 18 in Qatar). Will he instead sanction Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic for refusing to play?
“All the national teams should follow our example. Then we’ll see if FIFA has the balls to give Russia a place in the World Cup for forfeiting. I don’t think so,” Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny said on DAZN’s microphone on Saturday.
Its captain, Robert Lewandowski, star of the bayern Munichh, had written on Twitter on Saturday that “Russian footballers and fans are not responsible” for the decisions of Vladimir Putinbut “it cannot be done as if nothing were happening”.
boycott calls
Calls for a sports boycott of Russiaand sometimes also to Belarus, have multiplied in recent hours, while the battle for control of Kyiv.
The crisis has already had a direct impact on numerous sports, with the cancellation or relocation of sporting events that were to be held in Russia in the coming months, such as the Formula 1 Grand Prix, which will not end up being held in September at the Sochi circuit as scheduled. .
This Sunday, the pressures from Western governments intensified.
The British Minister of the Interior warned that the selections of “accomplice countries” will not be welcome in the United Kingdom and the International Judo Federation suspended this Sunday Putin of his status as honorary president of his organization.
The issue of sponsorships is also on the table.
After withdrawing the venue for the Champions League final to Saint Petersburg, the UEFA It could decide this week to break its contract with the gas giant Gazprom, whose majority owner is the Russian state, as a source familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP on Saturday.
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