Following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA announced on Monday that Russia has been excluded from the 2022 World Cup and its teams have been suspended from all international football tournaments “until further notice.”
The men’s squad was scheduled to compete in qualification playoffs for the World Cup in Qatar later this year in March, and the women’s team had qualified for the European Championship in England in July.
The announcement also affects Russian clubs involved in European competitions.
“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,” football’s global and European governing bodies said.
Russia were due to play Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff semifinal on March 24, and could have gone on to face Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29 for a place at the finals.
But their three potential opponents insisted they would boycott the matches.