FIFA and UEFA decided to bar Russia only hours after the International Olympic Committee called for international sports federations to prohibit Russian athletes and teams from all global sporting events where possible. The Olympic officials said Russia had breached a commitment — known as the Olympic Truce, and signed before the start of the Beijing Winter Games and scheduled to run through the Paralympics that start this week — by invading Ukraine.
The immediate consequence of the ban on Russia is that it will have to forfeit its place in a four-team group for one of Europe’s final places for the World Cup. Poland, which was scheduled to play Russia in March, had said it would refuse to play the game, a stance it repeated after FIFA announced its initial slate of penalties on Sunday night. Sweden and the Czech Republic, the teams that could have met Russia in a final game if the Russians beat Poland, issued the same warning.
Cezary Kulesza, the president of Poland’s soccer federation, called FIFA’s initial decision not to eject Russia “totally unacceptable.” In a post on Twitter, he added: “We are not interested in participating in this game of appearances. Our stance remains intact: Polish National Team will NOT PLAY with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.”
The indefinite ban on Russia also extends to its club teams, meaning that Spartak Moscow, its last remaining participant in a continental competition, will no longer be able to compete in its Europa League knockout out game against Germany’s RB Leipzig. That match was already in doubt before Monday’s decision, with officials unsure how the Russian team could travel after the European Union issued a blanket ban on Russian flights into the 27-member bloc.