Overview
- Speaking to Sky News, the FIFA president said bans and boycotts “don’t bring anything” and proposed changing FIFA statutes so nations are not excluded for the actions of political leaders.
- Russia has been suspended by FIFA and UEFA since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with brief 2023 proposals for youth participation under neutral conditions drawing boycott threats from multiple federations.
- Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi called the comments “irresponsible” and “infantile,” and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the idea of lifting the ban, citing hundreds of athletes and children killed in the war.
- The Kremlin welcomed Infantino’s remarks, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it is “high time to think about this” and expressing hope that Russian teams’ rights will be restored.
- Infantino rejected calls for World Cup boycotts and defended giving U.S. President Donald Trump FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize, asserting Trump “objectively” deserved the honor.