Олон улсын тэмцээнд оролцох эрх нь түдгэлзсэн хэдий ч Оросын хөлбөмбөгийн холбоо ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгчийн сонгуульд санал өгөх эрхтэй хэвээр байгаа аж.
ФИФА болон Европын хөлбөмбөгийн холбоо УЕФА 2022 онд Украин руу цөмөрсний дараа Оросын шигшээ багийг олон улсын тэмцээнээс хассан билээ. Гэсэн хэдий ч ФИФА гишүүнчлэлийг нь цуцлаагүй тул Оросын төлөөлөгчид ФИФА-гийн конгресст оролцож, ерөнхийлөгчийн сонгуульд санал өгөх боломжтой хэвээр байна. УЕФА-д ч мөн адил нөхцөл байдал үйлчилж байгаа бөгөөд Европын нөлөө бүхий олон улс орон Оросыг тэмцээнд эргүүлэн оруулахыг эсэргүүцсээр байгаа юм. Оросын хөлбөмбөгийн холбоо өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт УЕФА-гийн мэдэгдэлд нэгдсэн боловч уг асуудлаар бир үзэл бодлоо илэрхийлээгүй байна.
ФИФА-гийн ерөнхийлөгч Жанни Инфантино ирэх хаврын сонгоомжид өрсөлдөгчгүйгээр нэр дэвшиж байгаа ч УЕФА болон Ази, Конкакавын зарим гишүүдийн зүгээс ихээхэн дарамт шахалттай тулгараад байна. ФИФА болон УЕФА 2023 онд Оросын 17 хүртэлх насны эрэгтэй, эмэгтэй шигшээ багуудын олон улсын тэмцээнд оролцох хоригийг цуцалсан билээ. Тус багууд улсын далбаа, төрийн дуулал, үндсэн өмсгөлгүйгээр, “Оросын хөлбөмбөгийн холбоо” гэсэн нэрээр саармаг өнгөөр тоглох нөхцөлтэйгээр оролцох юм.
Энэ оны эхээр Жанни Инфантино Оросын эсрэг хоригийг цуцлахыг дэмжиж байгаагаа илэрхийлж, улс төрийн удирдагчдын үйлдлээс болж ямар ч улсыг хөлбөмбөг тоглох эрхээс хасах ёсгүй гэж мэдэгджээ. Үүнтэй зэрэгцэн Газын зурвас дахь дайнтай холбоотойгоор ФИФА болон УЕФА-г Израилийн эсрэг ижил төстэй хориг тарихыг уриалсан явдлууд гарсаар байгаа бөгөөд уг асуудлаар одоогоор ямар нэгэн хориг тавиагүй байна. ФИФА энэ асуудлаар ямар нэгэн тайлбар өгөхөөс татгалзжээ.
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The Russian Football Union retains a vote in FIFA’s presidential elections despite its national teams currently being banned from competing in major international competitions.
FIFA, the world governing body, and its European counterpart UEFA banned the Russian national team from competing in 2022 after the country’s full invasion of Ukraine.
This, though, followed an initial attempt by FIFA to allow Russia to continue competing in World Cup qualifying if it changed its name and played matches on neutral grounds. Following fierce resistance from a number of European football associations — including Poland, who were due to play Russia in a World Cup qualification fixture — FIFA scaled up its response, banning Russia from the men’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022, as well as the men’s and women’s editions since. FIFA president Gianni Infantino eventually said that the organisation “condemns the use of force by Russia in Ukraine.”
However, FIFA did not revoke its membership, meaning Russian representatives are still able to attend FIFA Congress and cast a vote in presidential elections. It is the same situation at UEFA, but many of the most powerful European nations remain opposed to Russia being reintegrated into competitions. The RFU joined the dramatic UEFA call last week — after which UEFA issued a statement saying its 55 member associations unanimously opposed Infantino’s idea to sell a stake in FIFA competitions and events, threatening to boycott the World Cups, doubling down on that this week — but has not issued an individual view on the matter.
FIFA and Infantino’s proposal to sell a stake in the organization’s commercial and events operations was rejected by UEFA, of which Russia is a member. (Carl De Souza / AFP via Getty Images)
Infantino is currently standing unopposed in next spring’s election but is under huge pressure from many within UEFA and some within Concacaf and Asia after his failed plot. As such, every vote could be crucial in the calculations as to whether a rival candidate will stand and any eventual election, while Russia may still be able to bring a small bloc of countries along with it in geopolitical votes.
The RFU declined to say publicly to The Athletic whether it had endorsed Infantino for re-election. In February 2019, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree to award Infantino with the Order of Friendship due to the FIFA president’s “enormous contribution” to Russia’s World Cup a year earlier. The ceremony took place at the Kremlin in Moscow.
Upon receipt, Infantino said to Putin: “This is not the end; it is only the beginning of our fruitful cooperation and interaction. On behalf of the whole football world, which means four or five billion people across the globe, thank you very much.”
Russia hosted FIFA’s men’s World Cup in 2018, despite annexing the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and making incursions into the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014. The conflict meant that one of Ukraine’s biggest clubs, Shakhtar, was forced to leave its home stadium in Donetsk and play matches in safer areas of Ukraine. The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was subsequently held in Russia in 2021.
In 2023, FIFA and UEFA lifted bans on Russia Under-17 teams from participating in international tournaments across the men’s and women’s game, provided they competed as the “Football Union of Russia”, and in the absence of their national flag, their national anthem, their national-team kit and equipment, and played in neutral colours.
Earlier this year, Infantino appeared to suggest he was personally in favour of ending the ban on Russia. He was speaking during a period in which there have been calls for FIFA and UEFA to impose a similar ban on Israel over the war in Gaza, which have so far been resisted.
“We have to,” Infantino told Sky News when asked if he is going to explore lifting the ban. “Definitely. Because this ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred.”
On the possibility of changing FIFA’s statutes to stop national teams being banned, Infantino said they “should actually never ban any country from playing football because of the acts of their political leaders.”
FIFA declined to comment on this story.
