FIFA has declined to ban Russia from playing in the World Cup—for now anyway. The Bureau of the FIFA Council said Sunday that it would instead impose a number of asterisks on Russian participation after President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Namely, the team will have to play under the title “Russian Football Union,” and will not be allowed to display the country’s flag or play its national anthem. They will also have to play on neutral territory and without spectators, FIFA officials said, adding that the organization would consider “a potential exclusion from competitions” should “the situation” deteriorate further.
It was decided last March that Russia would compete for a place in the 2022 World Cup in a bracket with Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. Earlier on Sunday, the Czech Republic said its team would refuse to play Russia, in line with Saturday statements made by Poland and Sweden. “We all want the war to end as soon as possible,” the Czech Republic’s football federation said in a statement. It was not immediately clear if FIFA’s Sunday measures against Russia would satisfy the three nations.
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