Russia to play in first Fifa tournament since Ukraine invasion
Russia are set to return to Fifa competition for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, after being listed on Friday as entrants for next month’s boys’ Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan.
Both club and national sides from Russia were banned from Fifa and Uefa tournaments following the invasion. Although Fifa lifted the prohibition on Russia’s under-17 teams back in 2023, the upcoming event will be the first time a team has actually played.
The Russian squad has been drawn in a group alongside Turkey, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Last December, the Fifa Council agreed that the under-15 tournament would be accessible to teams from every one of its 211 member associations.
In response to Russia’s official inclusion in the Under-15 World Cup on Friday, Ukraine’s minister of youth and sports Matvii Bidnyi said the decision “legitimised a terrorist state” as he called for countries to boycott the tournament.
Bidnyi said: “The international sports community must maintain unity and principled consistency, ruling out any concessions to the aggressor state.
“The Fifa football festival in Azerbaijan featuring the Russian under-15 national team with official national symbols – is nothing less than the legitimisation of a terrorist state, even if framed as an unofficial festival format. It is a direct attempt to provide Russians with a platform to display state symbols and spread Russian propaganda.
“While Russian youth are admitted to international football festivals, the aggressor state continues to commit crimes against Ukrainian children.
“According to Bring Kids Back UA, more than 20,000 cases of deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children by Russia have been verified, which underpins the ongoing International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. What ‘equal opportunities’ can we talk about when Russia has deprived our children of a normal childhood?
“We express our gratitude to Iceland and Germany for refusing to participate in this festival. We call on other national associations to join this decision and make a clear stand. Fifa’s 2022 decision to suspend Russia from international competitions must remain inviolable across all levels – without any loopholes for unofficial tournaments.”
Back in July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its recommendation for global sports federations like Fifa to ban Russia.
In February, Fifa president Gianni Infantino told Sky News that the Russia ban had “not achieved anything” and had simply fostered “more frustration and hatred”.
Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi described Infantino’s remarks as “irresponsible” and “infantile”.
“They detach football from the reality in which children are being killed,” he said.
