“The European Commissioner for Sports, Glenn Micallef, said that he strongly opposes FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s initiative to lift the ban on Russia’s participation in international football tournaments.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Glen Micallef. Photo: X/GlennMicallef Source: McAleef in the X social network, Politico
Micallef’s direct speech: “Sport does not exist in a vacuum. It reflects who we are and what we choose to fight for. To allow aggressors to return to world football as if nothing had happened is to ignore the real security risks and deep pain caused by war.”
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Details: The day before, the president of FIFA statedthat the governing body of world football is “obliged to allow Russia” to participate in the competition again. He claimed that bans and boycotts supposedly “generate even more hatred” and that the participation of Russians in tournaments “would be beneficial.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiga reacted sharply to Infantino’s words. He emphasized that “Russia has already killed 679 Ukrainian children who will never be able to play football,” and called the authors of the initiative “moral degenerates.”
Moscow, not surprisingly, supported Infantino’s proposal.
“We have seen these statements (Infantino – ed.) and welcome them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said.
Even if the ban is hypothetically lifted in the near future, Russia will not be able to participate in the 2026 World Cup, as it did not participate in the qualifying rounds.
Prehistory:
- Even after the occupation of Crimea and the start of the war in Donbas, Infantino actively demonstrated friendly relations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Infantino repeatedly expressed his admiration for the organization of the tournament and Putin personally. He publicly declared that the world “fell in love with Russia”, and the tournament itself became “the best in history”.
- In 2019, Putin awarded Infantino with the Order of Friendship. At the ceremony, the FIFA president said that he had become “part of the Russian family.”
- After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA under the leadership of Infantino delayed until the last the suspension of the Russian teams. It was only after a massive boycott by European national teams that FIFA was forced to introduce a complete ban.
- In December 2022, before the World Cup finals in Qatar, Infantino rejected the request President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi to speak with a message about peace.
- In April 2025, during the UEFA congress in Belgrade, Infantino said that he wanted return of Russia as soon as possible in international football competitions.