What will Fifa do now? The question – in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – was certainly not one of the most important in these frantic and dramatic days. But at the same time the response that has arrived (still partial, compared to the definitive one that will take shape following the situation on the ground and the international scenario) establishes some fixed points, with Zurich trying to make its own the sanctioning framework already defined over the years passed by the IOC in relation to Moscow. So let’s try to define at least the framework (designed by FIFA itself through its executive), in which the government of world football will have to mark – from now on – the path towards the Qatar2022 World Cup taking into account the war between Moscow and Kiev. .
Infantino’s answer
As a skilled strategist as he certainly is, the FIFA president Gianni Infantino knows well that geopolitical scenarios of such drama and complexity have their most effective solver in the time factor. The fact is that the world play-offs are upon us, as are the troops of Moscow with respect to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. And then a first response arrives from Zurich which is already the choice of an address, but which does not completely close the possibility of a backtrack, if not in the weeks, in the coming months (and waiting for the eventual result on the playing field. ): Russia’s matches towards Qatar2022 will take place on a neutral pitch, with no spectators, no flag or national anthem, with players referred to only as ‘Russian footballers’.
It is in fact the photocopy solution compared to the one adopted by the IOC, which at the recent Beijing Winter Games as well as the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 and the PyeongChang Winter Games in 2018, due to past doping violations, allowed Russian athletes to compete, but without the flag of their country, under the name of Roc (Russian Olympic Committee) and with the music of Chajkowskij instead of the official national anthem. Any additional sanctions (including the definitive exclusion from competitions) remain in the background, says the fifa, which continues to dialogue with Cio and Uefa and to follow the evolution of all scenarios.
The current state
Zurich also declares to continue and deepen the dialogue with Prague, Stockholm and Warsaw. Just a few hours before the pronouncements of the world football government, after Poland and Sweden, the Czech Republic too had in fact communicated that it will not play a hypothetical match against Russia for the Qatar 2022 playoffs. A strong decision that follows what has been done in recent days by the other two national teams. The Extraordinary Executive Committee of the Czech Football Association, chaired by President Petr Fousek, announced in a statement that it had “unanimously approved the decision that the Czech national team will not play against the Russian one in the current situation, not even on a neutral pitch. We all want the war to end as soon as possible ”.
The Czech Football Association has instructed President Fousek and Secretary General Michal Valtr “to negotiate with UEFA and FIFA on the Executive Committee’s decision not to play a possible match against Russia”. Prague’s stance (widely supported also by the vice president of Juventus and former Golden Ball Pavel Nedved) puts one of the European qualifying playoff ‘boards’ in crisis for Qatar2022, with semifinals and final scheduled for the 24th. and March 29 (and Russia should have played both games in Moscow). Without neglecting the growing party of those who want the Russians out of the World Cup right now, without taking into consideration alternative hypotheses, and which includes the certainly not irrelevant French Football Association among its ranks. Will the proposed response from Zurich be enough now to push the three federations to step back? The answer arrived within a few minutes from Warsaw (“The Fifa proposal is totally unacceptable”, the Polish Football Association clearly states, which reiterated that it will not play against the Russians, requesting their immediate exclusion from the world playoffs) does not leave think about possible compromises.