FIFA and UEFA suspend Russia following Ukraine invasion

An official announcement was made on Monday.

FIFA and UEFA have suspended Russia and Russian clubs from all footballing activity following the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. FIFA, Football's governing body initially backed away from expelling Russia from the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches and future events. They instead announced that they would be required to complete their matches without their anthem, flag and as the Football Union of Russia in neutral territory. A number of nations insisted that they would refuse to play against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine - including England, the Republic of Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden. And several of them were quick to reiterate that, regardless of the name Russia were competing under, they would not compete against them in any format. Following intense backlash from several nations and organisations around the world, the governing body have made the decision to suspend Russia from competing in the sport altogether. https://twitter.com/danroan/status/1498311391622713353 It comes after the International Olympic Committee asked all sports to prevent athletes or officials from Russia and Belarus from participating in any organised international competitions. The IOC stated that wherever this was not possible, potentially due to organisational or legal reasons, such athletes should be classed as neutrals and not compete under the name Russia or Belarus. https://twitter.com/RobHarris/status/1498350645232951297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498350645232951297%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffifa-and-uefa-suspend-all-russian-teams-from-football-320125 Additionally, the IOC withdrew the Olympic order from Vladimir Putin "considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past". Russia were set to face Poland then either the Czech Republic or Sweden if they had won in the upcoming World Cup 2022 playoffs, which are scheduled to be played in March.