Grandstand. After four days of unbearable immobility since the invasion of Ukraine, Gianni Infantino, president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), and his executive committee have taken a decision of extreme courage in anticipation of the phase of play-offs for the qualification of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: to play Russia on neutral ground and behind closed doors, banish its flag and its national anthem, and play its matches under the banner of the Russian Football Union!
Safe in his safe in Zurich [où se trouve le siège social de la FIFA]Gianni Infantino said to himself “preoccupied” by the situation. But the only action that results from this consists in protecting and not offending the master of the Kremlin, with whom his ties have been strong (as with other powerful people who are not very frequentable in this world) since the 2018 World Cup… Meanwhile, the armored Russians are advancing on Ukrainian territory.
The federations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic had all three declared, well before this decision, that they would not play against Russia (these four teams are part of the “B path” of the qualifying play-offs: half- Russia-Poland and Sweden-Czech Republic finals, with the two winners meeting for a place in Qatar).
Boycott
While the International Volleyball Federation maintains the next world championships in Russia (in August), the French Federation (FFVB), yet Olympic champion, has indicated that it will boycott this competition, also receiving the consent of some players…
If we want effective drastic measures against the Russian aggressor (and its Belarusian accomplice) of Ukraine, these measures must also concern sport, and in particular the most popular of them on the planet: soccer. On this subject, it is necessary to bend Gianni Infantino’s FIFA. For this, the football associations of the European Union must put pressure on the world football organisation.
The president of the French Federation, Noël Le Graët, declared on February 27 that he “lean” for an exclusion of Russia. It is courageous, but we must decide on drastic and coordinated measures at the level of the federations of the European Union (EU).
It is necessary that the last four winners of the Football World Cup (Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010, Germany in 2014, France in 2018), as well as the federations of the major nations of this sport already qualified, such as Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, but also the federations still in the running for qualification via the play-offs (Austria, Italy again, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic and Sweden) adopt a joint motion by which they denounce the ersatz decision of FIFA concerning the suspension of Russia, and especially that they will boycott the tests in Qatar if Russia takes part in them.
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