They also may not be enough to persuade Russia’s rivals to agree to share a field with a Russian team, and put FIFA in the uncomfortable position of expelling three of its members while allowing Russia to advance unchallenged to the World Cup, soccer’s showcase event.
FIFA declined to comment on the proposed punishments against Russia, or the opposition of the three other federations who have vowed not to play.
Understand Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
Card 1 of 7What is at the root of this invasion? Russia considers Ukraine within its natural sphere of influence, and it has grown unnerved at Ukraine’s closeness with the West and the prospect that the country might join NATO or the European Union. While Ukraine is part of neither, it receives financial and military aid from the United States and Europe.
Are these tensions just starting now? Antagonism between the two nations has been simmering since 2014, when the Russian military crossed into Ukrainian territory, after an uprising in Ukraine replaced their Russia-friendly president with a pro-Western government. Then, Russia annexed Crimea and inspired a separatist movement in the east. A cease-fire was negotiated in 2015, but fighting has continued.
How did this invasion unfold? After amassing a military presence near the Ukrainian border for months, on Feb. 21, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed decrees recognizing two pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. On Feb. 23, he declared the start of a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Several attacks on cities around the country have since unfolded.
What has Mr. Putin said about the attacks? Mr. Putin said he was acting after receiving a plea for assistance from the leaders of the Russian-backed separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, citing the false accusation that Ukrainian forces had been carrying out ethnic cleansing there and arguing that the very idea of Ukrainian statehood was a fiction.
How has Ukraine responded? On Feb. 23, Ukraine declared a 30-day state of emergency as cyberattacks knocked out government institutions. Following the beginning of the attacks, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, declared martial law. The foreign minister called the attacks “a full-scale invasion” and called on the world to “stop Putin.”
How has the rest of the world reacted? The United States, the European Union and others have condemned Russia’s aggression and begun issuing economic sanctions against Russia. Germany announced on Feb. 23 that it would halt certification of a gas pipeline linking it with Russia. China refused to call the attack an “invasion,” but did call for dialogue.
How could this affect the economy? Russia controls vast global resources — natural gas, oil, wheat, palladium and nickel in particular — so the conflict could have far-reaching consequences, prompting spikes in energy and food prices and spooking investors. Global banks are also bracing for the effects of sanctions.
Russia’s soccer federation, meanwhile, rejected even the suggestion that it would not play the game, or games, as scheduled in Moscow. The federation, known as the R.F.U., said it would continue preparing for the games.
“At the moment, the R.F.U. has not received any information from FIFA regarding the likelihood of postponing or canceling the World Cup qualifiers scheduled for March 24 and 29 in Moscow,” the Russian federation said. “We do not see any legal grounds for canceling the playoff game between the Russian and Polish national teams and the subsequent meeting with Sweden or the Czech Republic. The R.F.U. continues to prepare for these games.”
Russia, its top leaders and several wealthy individuals and companies have already been targeted by the West with heavy penalties that are having an immediate effect on life in the country, including a ban on air travel by Russian airlines to most parts of Europe. That prohibition would most likely make finding a venue for any game involving the Russian team difficult.