FIFA bans Russian soccer teams from competitions; U.S. joins growing boycott of Russia

U.S. Soccer said its teams won't play Russian opponents "no matter the level of competition or circumstance, until freedom and peace have been restored.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino (left) with Russian president Vladimir Putin in June 2018, when Russia hosted the last men's World Cup.Read moreAlexander Zemlianichenko / AP

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Feb. 28, 2022, 1:17 p.m. ET

Global soccer’s governing body FIFA brought down its biggest hammer of all on Monday, banning Russia from its competitions “until further notice” over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The ban is expected to knock Russia’s men’s national team out of next month’s World Cup qualifying playoffs, and thus out of the World Cup in Qatar that starts in November — though the statement did not officially say so.

FIFA was joined in its order by UEFA, the continental governing body of European soccer. The decision will likely expel Russia’s women’s team from this summer’s European Championship. UEFA did officially expel the one Russian club left in European club competitions this season, Spartak Moscow.

“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,” a joint statement from FIFA and UEFA said.

UEFA later added separately in a statement to Reuters and other outlets: “The UEFA Europa League matches between RB Leipzig and FC Spartak Moskva cannot take place, and, as a consequence, RB Leipzig are qualified to the quarter-finals of the competition.”

It remains to be seen if FIFA will say anything more.

Just over an hour before the ban was announced, the U.S. Soccer Federation joined the growing chorus of national teams refusing to play Russia.

“The U.S. Soccer Federation stands united with the people of Ukraine and is unequivocal in our denunciation of the heinous and inhumane invasion by Russia,” America’s soccer governing body said in a statement issued on Twitter. “We will neither tarnish our global game, nor dishonor Ukraine, by taking the same field as Russia, no matter the level of competition or circumstance, until freedom and peace have been restored.”

U.S. Soccer is one of the first major soccer governing bodies outside Europe to take that stance. No American team was set to play Russia any time soon, with men’s World Cup qualifying done on a regional basis and the U.S. women’s team only playing friendlies until the World Cup qualifying tournament in July. The next women’s World Cup is next year.

But it’s still a big headline, as the United States allies itself with many countries across Europe that could have faced Russia soon. Chief among them are Poland, which is scheduled to play Russia in a World Cup qualifying playoff on March 24; and Sweden and the Czech Republic, which meet on the same day and whose winner is set to play the Russia-Poland winner on March 29 for a World Cup berth.

Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic had all said they would boycott any game against Russia and forfeit a World Cup berth.

Canada, England (the host of the upcoming women’s Euros), Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland also joined the boycott in recent days; and French soccer president Noël Le Graët told France’s Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday that he wanted Russia barred from the World Cup.

That now looks set to happen, with the New York Times and Reuters reporting Monday that FIFA would announce the ban on Monday evening.

FIFA had already barred Russia from playing home games, and in a setup similar to the Olympics, required the national team to be called the “Russian Football Union” without its flag or national anthem.

Spartak Moscow was in the round of 16 of the Europa League, the second-tier continental men’s club competition. It was set to face Germany’s RB Leipzig on March 10 in Moscow and March 17 in Leipzig.

UEFA had previously moved this season’s men’s Champions League final out of St. Petersburg; and has now ended a sponsorship deal with Gazprom, the Russian state-owned oil conglomerate whose logo has been seen on ad boards at continental games for many years. German club Schalke 04 also ended its partnership with Gazprom on Monday.

As for Ukraine’s national teams, its men are also in the European World Cup qualifying playoffs. They are scheduled to play Scotland in Glasgow, then visit the winner of the other semifinal between Wales and Austria. As with the other qualifiers, the games are set for March 24 and 29, respectively. There are no Ukrainian club teams still playing in this season’s European competitions.