MOSCOW – The international football governing body has ordered Russian athletes to play games without their flag and anthem at neutral venues, threatening Kremlin to be banned from competitions If the situation worsens in war-hit Ukraine.
The Zurich-based organization is the latest sporting governing body to announced penalties against Moscow as it called immediate first measures against the Putin-led administration.
No international football matches will be played in Russia, and the country’s flag and anthem will be banned from any of their matches abroad, FIFA said while condemning the use of force by Russia in a neighboring state.
A statement issued in this regard cited “FIFA will continue its ongoing dialogue with the IOC, UEFA and other sports organizations to determine any additional measures or sanctions, including a potential exclusion from competitions, that shall be applied in the near future should the situation not improve rapidly”.
Russian invasion in Eastern European nation has an enormous impact on football, as Western-backed leagues and organizations opposed Moscow’s move of the full-scale military operation.
Central European state Poland is among the vocal opponents as they announced not to play against Moscow in the World Cup qualifying play-off, while England also refused to play in any age group at any competition against Russia.
Polish Football organization chief also slammed FIFA for not excluding Russia from the World Cup. The top football authority also drew ire from other nations for not expelling Russia and only ordering the country to play with restrictions.
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Swedish federation president, who is the senior UEFA vice president, shows dissent with the FIFA decision saying they expected a sharper stance. Meanwhile, the English Football Association announced that its national teams would refuse to play with Russia for the foreseeable future.
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