FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he supports the reinstatement of Russia and called for an end to the country’s four-year exclusion from international tournaments.
FIFA barred Russia from competition when its ongoing invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Russia was expelled from that year’s World Cup in Qatar and was not part of qualifying for the 2026 edition to be held this summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Infantino said the ban has been fruitless in an interview with Sky Sports that took placed in London over the weekend during the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup. His first desire is to have Russia’s youth teams reinstated.
“We have to (look at reinstating Russia), definitely, 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.”
UEFA’s executive committee, whose next quarterly meeting takes place Feb. 11 in Brussels, Belgium, has the authority to reinstate Russia. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has maintained the war in Ukraine needs to end for that to happen.
The European governing body in 2023 briefly planned to let Russia compete in Under-17 continental championship qualifying, citing a desire not to punish children for government actions. UEFA relented and upheld the ban after a dozen national federations threatened to boycott matches with Russia.
At the senior men’s level, Russia has been limited to participating in friendlies, most recently against Chile and Peru in November.
Russia hosted and reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup during Infantino’s first term as FIFA president.
Infantino told Sky Sports that his opposition to bans is unreserved and FIFA should “enshrine in our statutes that we should actually never ban any country from playing football because of the acts of their political leaders.”
(Reuters)
