FIFA boss Infantino wants Russia to return to football

• FIFA President Gianni Infantino believes it is time to reinstate Russia, who has been banned since invading Ukraine in 2022, to football.
• Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi said the words were detached from a “reality in which children are being killed.”
• Russian and Belarussian athletes are about to compete as neutrals at the Winter Olympics in Italy

What has FIFA said about Russia’s ban?

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he wants Russia reinstated to international football tournaments.

“We have to [look at reinstating Russia], definitely, because this ban has not achieved anything. It has just created ‍more frustration and hatred,” Infantino said in an interview with Sky. “Having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help.”

Infantino added that the ban had “not achieved anything” and “created more frustration, and hatred.”

Russia has been banned from international football since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, four years ago. They were expelled from the World Cup in Qatar that year, and were not part of qualifying for the 2026 tournament that will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada this summer. The men’s team have been playing friendlies ever since, but have not played a competetive match since the 2018 World Cup, which the country hosted and the team made the quarterfinals of.

In 2023, European football governors UEFA briefly planned to allow Russia’s U17s teams to compete, saying they didn’t want to punish children for the actions of a government. However, UEFA did not follow through on this plan after pressure from a dozen national federations.

UEFA’s executive committee meets on February 11 and has the authority to reinstate Russia to its club and international tournaments. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has said for Russia to return to competitive football, the invasion of Ukraine needs to end.

Have Ukraine responded to Infantino’s words?

Yes. Ukraine sports minister Matvii Bidnyi told Sky News: “Gianni Infantino’s words sound irresponsible – not to say infantile. They detach football from the reality in which children are being killed.”

“War is a crime, not politics,” continued Bidnyi. “It is Russia that politicises sport and uses it to justify aggression.

“I share the position of the Ukrainian Association of Football, which also warns against Russia’s return to international competitions.

“As long as Russians continue killing Ukrainians and politicizing sport, their flag and national symbols have no place among people who respect values such as justice, integrity and fair play.”

Indeed, just a day after Infantino’s words, Ukrainian officials explained that Russia resumed strikes on Kyiv, ending the cold-weather truce announced by US President Donald Trump. Ukrainian authorities report injuries, attacks on energy infrastructure, and emergency heating cuts.

Does this change the status of Russian athletes competing in the Winter Olympics?

No. Athletes from Russia and Belarus will only be allowed to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, a special designation created by the IOC for athletes whose Olympic committees are suspended or banned.

And even then, not all athletes have been approved for this neutral status, as there is a strict list of requirements set by the IOC after Russia’s invasion and subsequent ban. These requirements are to make sure that neutral athletes are not tied to the political or military actions that led to the ban on Russia as a nation in the Olympics.

This situation was made more complicated in 2023, when the Russian Olympic Committee took control of sports bodies in occupied Ukraine, which the IOC declared as crossing a legal boundary in the Olympic system.

There will be 13 Russian athletes competing as neutrals in Milan-Cortina, and seven from Belarus. This is in huge contrast to the the previous two Olympics. In 2018, athletes from Russia had to compete under the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” designation due to a state-sponsored doping scandal in the country. Despite that, over 160 athletes still competed under the OAR designation, winning 17 medals.

Four years later, in Beijing, more than 200 athletes won 32 medals for Russia under the “Russian Olympic Committee” designation because of the doping scandal. Four days after the end of those Games, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Edited by: Matt Pearson