Infantino, in an interview published on February 2, opined that “this ban did nothing” and “generated even more disappointment and hatred.” When asked whether FIFA should lift the ban on Russian teams participating, he replied: “Oh, absolutely. We should. At least at the youth level.”
“679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football – Russia killed them. And it continues to kill even more, while moral degenerates propose to lift the bans. Despite the fact that Russia did not stop the war,” Sibiga commented.
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that future generations “will consider this a shame, similar to the 1936 Olympics” in Germany during the reign of the Nazis.
679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football — Russia killed them.
And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia's failure to end its war.
Future generations will view this as a shame reminiscent of the 1936 Olympics. pic.twitter.com/elakyRgeIZ
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) February 2, 2026
The UAF called on FIFA and its President Infantino not to change the position of the football authorities on the exclusion of Russians from football competitions while the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine continues.
Context
On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA decided that all Russian teams, whether national or club, would be suspended from participating in FIFA and UEFA competitions. This decision by the governing bodies was a consequence of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
However, on September 26, 2023, the UEFA executive committee will allow Russian representative youth teams to participate in competitions at the U17 girls and boys level.
Reacting to this, the UAF stated that Ukrainian teams would not participate in competitions to which Russian teams would be allowed, and called on the international sports community to boycott the Russians. The boycott was supported by a number of European countries.
On October 4, the FIFA Council approved the extension of the UEFA committee's decision to the U17 World Cup and the U17 Women's World Cup.
On October 10, UEFA refused to allow the youth (U17) team of the aggressor country Russia to participate in the 2024 European Championship. The media reported that the decision taken by the football union on September 26 “provoked a split in the UEFA executive committee.” Thus, at least 12 of the 55 European member federations stated that their teams do not intend to play Russian teams.
