FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Monday that the world football governing body should lift its ban on Russia competing in international tournaments.

Russia was banned from the football events by FIFA immediately following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The ban has remained in place, although youth teams have been allowed to compete since 2023.

“We have to,” Infantino told Sky News in an interview when asked if he would look into lifting the ban. “I’m against bans, I’m against boycotts as well,” he added, saying they just “create more hatred.”

It would send a positive message to have “girls and boys from Russia” participating in football tournaments across Europe, he said.

The suggestion drew a furious response from Ukraine, which is still fighting Russian troops and aerial bombardments.

“679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football — Russia killed them,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha on social media. “And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia’s failure to end its war.”

Infantino maintains close ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and in December awarded him the newly created FIFA Peace Prize — widely seen as a token honor — after the American president was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, despite having campaigned heavily for the honor.

FIFA also opened an office in New York’s Trump Tower in July and appointed Trump’s daughter Ivanka to the board of an education charity project co-funded by 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket sales.

The U.S. is hosting the men’s World Cup this summer together with Mexico and Canada. It has faced calls for boycotts from some quarters of politics and society over the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

Russia hosted the tournament in 2018.

Politico

More about: