FIFA and UEFA suspend Russia until further notice News

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FIFA and UEFA suspend Russia until further notice

By Daily Sports Nigeria on March 1, 2022

The suspension means that, barring an unlikely change of course in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country will not face Poland in a World Cup play-off semi-final next month; UEFA has also terminated its deal with energy company Gazprom; Spartak Moscow thrown out of Europa League

FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia's national and club teams from all competitions until further notice.

The suspension means that, barring an unlikely change of course in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country will not be able to face Poland in a World Cup play-off semi-final next month, take part in the Women's European Championships this summer and Spartak Moscow have been kicked out of the Europa League.

UEFA has also terminated its deal with energy company Gazprom, which is majority-owned by the Russian state and is also a major sponsor of the Champions League.

The sponsorship deal has been in place since 2012 and has been reported to be worth around £33.4m (€40m) per season.

Which teams are affected by suspension?

World Cup 2022 - Russia were scheduled to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying play-off on March 24 and if they remain suspended at that time, they would be out of the World Cup and unable to progress to the finals in Qatar in November.

Europa League - UEFA has already confirmed Spartak Moscow will not play their Europa League match against RB Leipzig, with the German club advancing to the quarter-finals.

Nations League – In June, Russia are due to play Albania twice, as well as games against Israel and Iceland.

Women's Euro 2022 - UEFA says a decision will be made at a later date about the impact on the tournament in England in July, which Russia have qualified for.

A joint FIFA and UEFA statement read: "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, 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.

"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.

"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."

Source Sky Sports

Posted March 1, 2022