Fifa and Uefa jointly decided to suspend all Russian national teams and clubs from participating in each other’s competitions until further notice, which implies the exclusion of Russia from the World Cup in Qatar 2022, for which he had to play the playoff.
(In context: It’s official: Fifa and Uefa expel Russia and all its teams from tournaments)
These measures were adopted by the FIFA Council Bureau and the Uefa Executive Committee, respectively, the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions in these urgent matters, given the invasion of Ukraine by Russia that began on the 24th.
The joint resolution of FIFA and UEFA was made public after the recommendation made on Monday by the IOC to federations and competition organizers, so that “they do not invite or allow the participation of Russian or Belarusian athletes or officials.”
Antecedent
The precedent in this situation was a similar sanction that occurred on October 1, 1992, when Fifa announced the expulsion of Yugoslavia from the qualifying phase for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
This decision was given as a consequence of the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro that the UN imposed at that time due to the Balkan conflict and that had previously left it out of the 1992 European Championship, in which Denmark, which took its place, champion was proclaimed.
The move in 1992 was heavily criticized by the then French ambassador Jean Bernard Merimee, who stated that his country was backing away from the decision. There was criticism for not separating sport from politics, even from Fifa itself.
“It is a vexatious and inappropriate measure,” Merimee said in 1992. This resolution also established that Yugoslav athletes could participate individually without using the flag of their country.
“Yugoslavia will be excluded from international competitions for as long as the blockade decreed by the United Nations lasts,” said then-Fifa secretary Joseph Blatter, who later became president.
Another precedent is that of the Iraqi federation, on which a sanction was imposed that prevented its soccer teams from playing at home since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
There are other cases of expulsion from the World Cup, but for other reasons, such as the situation in Equatorial Guinea, which was expelled from the 2026 World Cup, as punishment for repeated defaults on the debt of more than two million euros that it has contracted. with Spanish coaches Miguel Ángel Pozanco and Esteban Becker.
The Russian team had yet to play the playoffs to opt for one of the three European places that still remain for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Their first match was scheduled for March 24, against Poland at home. In case of overcoming it, they had to face, again in their field, the winner of the duel between Sweden and the Czech Republic on March 29.
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