Fifa and Uefa have suspended all Russian football clubs and national teams from all competitions following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The world and European football governing bodies said they would be banned “until further notice”.
A joint statement from FIFA and UEFA read; “Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
“These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.
“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people.”
This means the Russian men’s team will not play their World Cup play-off matches next month and the women’s team have been banned from this summer’s Euro 2022 competition.
The Russian men’s team had been scheduled to face Poland in a World Cup play-off semi-final on 24 March.
Spartak Moscow have also been kicked out of the Europa League and their last-16 opponents RB Leipzig will advance to the quarter-finals.
The International Olympic Committee urged international sports federations to either move or cancel events planned in Russia or Belarus. Russian troops entered Ukraine through Belarus, when the invasion began.
