Russia banned from World Cup, other major sports competitions amid war in Ukraine

Russia will be barred from the 2022 men's World Cup and other international sports competitions after FIFA and the International Olympic Committee levied extraordinary sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

FIFA, soccer's global governing body, and UEFA, the sport's European governing body, announced Monday that they have banned all Russian national teams and clubs from all competitions "until further notice."

The suspension will likely remove Russia from March's World Cup qualifying playoffs, and end its hopes of earning a berth at the most prestigious tournament in international sport.

FIFA's decision came hours after the IOC's executive board recommended that sports organizers "not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions." (Belarus has supported the Russian invasion.)

The UEFA ban would also apply to Russia's women's national team and the 2022 European Championships, set to be held in England this summer; and to Spartak Moscow, a Russian club that qualified for the Europa League round of 16.

UEFA, which had already relocated its Champions League final from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Paris, also announced that it would terminate its lucrative sponsorship deal with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom.

In announcing the bans, FIFA and UEFA joined a growing list of national governments and international organizations that have penalized Russia for instigating a war that has already taken hundreds of lives. Ukraine's health ministry said Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, had been killed since the beginning of the invasion. Foreign officials have condemned the deadly use of force, and branded it a war without a cause.

Sanctions have largely targeted Russia's economy. The sporting suspensions, if they do disqualify Russia from the men's World Cup, are some of the most symbolically significant yet.

In announcing them, FIFA said: "Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. [We] 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."

Russia's men's national team was scheduled to play Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff semifinal on March 24. Following last week's invasion, the Polish national team — players and executives — announced that they would refuse to play the match. Sweden and the Czech Republic, who would meet the Russia-Poland winner with a World Cup spot on the line, also said they would not play Russia.

FIFA initially responded with half-measures. It condemned the invasion in a Sunday statement, and announced that Russia's home games would be moved to neutral venues. It also said that the Russian team would play under the name "Football Union of Russia," and without the Russian flag or anthem present.

But pressure continued to mount. Cezary Kulesza, the president of Poland’s soccer federation, called FIFA's refusal to take more meaningful action "disgraceful" and "totally unacceptable."

On Sunday and Monday, several national soccer federations, including U.S. Soccer, joined Poland, Sweden and the Czechs in saying that their teams would not take the field against a Russian team, "no matter the level of competition or circumstance, until freedom and peace have been restored."

Russia's soccer federation has pushed back against the supposed politicization of sport, and said Sunday that it did "not see any legal grounds for canceling" World Cup qualifiers. On Monday, it said it "reserve[s] the right to challenge the decision of FIFA and UEFA in accordance with international sports law." It could, presumably, appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has historically been kind to Russian athletes and officials in doping cases.

FIFA, in announcing its decision, did not cite a law or rule that allowed it to enact the ban. It said the decision had been made by the FIFA Council and UEFA Executive Committee, the most powerful decision-making bodies in their respective organizations. Legal experts believe that the IOC's recommendations, which stemmed from Russia's violation of the Olympic Truce, paved the way for FIFA's ban.

The suspensions are rare but not quite unprecedented. Germany's and Japan's soccer federations were not readmitted by FIFA in time for the 1950 World Cup, the first after World War II. South Africa was barred from qualifying for two decades during apartheid. More recently, Yugoslavia was removed from the 1992 European Championships and prevented from qualifying for the 1994 World Cup amid the wars that ultimately tore the country apart. FIFA cited United Nations sanctions in that instance.

But other military actions that have run afoul of the UN have not led to FIFA penalties. Syria nearly qualified for the 2018 men's World Cup as dictator Bashar al-Assad waged war against his own people. United States national teams were not punished after their government invaded Iraq in 2003. The Soviet Union played in the 1982 World Cup after its forces invaded Afghanistan.

FIFA did not clarify in its Monday announcement whether a Russian retreat from Ukraine would lead to immediate reinstatement. Russian national team coach Valeri Karpin, in expressing his disappointment, said he hoped sanctions would be quickly lifted.

FIFA also did not say whether Poland would win the playoff semifinal by forfeit, or whether another team — perhaps Slovakia, which finished directly behind Russia in group play; or Hungary, via the UEFA Nations League qualification criteria — would replace Russia in the playoffs.

Ukraine's national team, which is scheduled to play Scotland in its own playoff semifinal, will remain in the qualifying competition.

Other sports organizers also moved to suspend Russian teams on Monday. The World Curling Federation announced that it intends to remove Russian athletes from its upcoming world championships. The International Ice Hockey Federation announced the suspension of all Russian and Belarusian teams from its competitions, including the world championships in May.

The International Paralympic Committee will meet later this week to discuss Russian participation in the Winter Paralympics, which begin Friday.

The IOC, in its Monday recommendations, said that if suspension was "not possible on short notice for organizational or legal reasons," officials should "do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colors, flags or anthems should be displayed."

Check out this interactive for an explainer on the Russian invasion of Ukraine: