Russian football clubs and national teams have been suspended from all competitions by FIFA and UEFA after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two football governing bodies announced this in a joint statement on Monday.
The world and European football governing bodies said they would be banned “until further notice”.
According to the BBC, FIFA and UEFA decided to take action after Russia, supported by Belarus, launched a military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine last Thursday.
The decision was taken amid growing pressure from European nations and the International Olympic Committee.
Russia were due to play Poland in a semifinal ahead of a potential final against Sweden or the Czech Republic in March and that the Russia women’s team would be removed from the European Championships due to be staged in England in July.
In the statement, FIFA and UEFA said: “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.”
Commenting on the decision to cut ties with Gazprom, UEFA said: “UEFA has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions.
“The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024.”
Credit: BBC, Agency reports
