In The Aftermath Of The Ukraine Invasion, FIFA Kicked Russia Out Of The 2022 World Cup

Illustration of Russian striker Fedor Smolov at Euro 2016 (Twitter @FIFAWorldCup)

JAKARTA - Russia was kicked out of the World Cup after being suspended from all international competitions "until further notice", FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, European football's governing body UEFA ended its partnership with Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Russia's men's team is scheduled to play in the qualifying playoffs in March for the Qatar World Cup later this year, while the women's team has already qualified for the European Championship finals in England to be held in July.

The announcement also affected Russian clubs involved in European competitions.

"FIFA and UEFA have today jointly decided that all Russian teams, both national and club representative teams, will be suspended from participation in FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice", the world and European football bodies said in a joint statement.

Russia's men's team is scheduled to play Poland in the semi-finals of a World Cup qualifying playoff on March 24 and may face Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29 for a place in the finals in Qatar later this year.

But their three potential opponents boycotted the match.

FIFA on Sunday announced that Russian teams would be allowed to continue playing under the name of the Russian Football Union, playing home matches on neutral ground and in closed stadiums, and without the Russian flag and national anthem.

But the move was deemed insufficient and called "totally unacceptable" by Polish Football Federation president Cezary Kulesza, insisting Poland will not play a World Cup playoff against Russia, "no matter what the team's name is."

FIFA then changed its stance Monday by kicking Russia out of the sport's main tournament.

"Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all those affected in Ukraine", added FIFA and UEFA.

"The two presidents (Gianni Infantino and Aleksander Ceferin) hope that the situation in Ukraine improves significantly and quickly so that football can again become a vector of unity and peace among peoples."