Ukraine slams ‘infantile’ FIFA president for proposing lifting Russia ban

Ukraine’s sports and foreign ministers have hit out at FIFA President Gianni Infantino for suggesting that world football’s governing body should allow Russian teams to participate in international competitions after a four-year ban over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an interview with Sky News published on Monday, Infantino said that FIFA and its European counterpart UEFA should “definitely” consider lifting the ban they imposed on Russian national and club teams in February 2022.

“Because this ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred,” Infantino said. “Having girls and boys from Russia being able to play football games in other parts of Europe would help.” 

The FIFA president added that he also opposed calls to impose a similar ban on Israel over its war in Gaza as he believed no country should be excluded “because of the acts of their political leaders”.

In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X that “679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football — Russia killed them.”

“And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia’s failure to end its war,” Sybiha said. “Future generations will view this as a shame reminiscent of the 1936 Olympics.”

Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi echoed Syhiba’s remarks, calling Infantino’s words “irresponsible” and “infantile”.

“War is a crime, not politics,” Bidnyi said. “As long as Russians continue killing Ukrainians and politicising sport, their flag and national symbols have no place among people who respect values such as justice, integrity, and fair play.”

The Ukrainian Association of Football said it disagreed with Infantino’s claim that the ban had not achieved anything and called Russia’s exclusion from world football an “effective means of pressure” on Moscow to end the war.

Allowing Russian teams to return would “jeopardise the safety and integrity” of international competitions, it stressed.

In 2023, UEFA briefly eased its policy to allow Russian under-17 teams to compete in its tournaments, but reversed the decision after backlash from member federations.

Infantino’s comments were welcomed in Moscow on Tuesday, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that discussions about reinstating Russia were “long overdue” and that football should “never have been politicised”.

In 2019, the FIFA president was awarded Russia’s Order of Friendship medal by Vladimir Putin after the country hosted the World Cup the previous year.