He assures us. “I am always against bans,” says Gianni Infantino. During an interview with the British television channel Sky News, the boss of Fifa, the body which manages world football, did not avoid any of the hot topics of the moment. Giving his opinion on the boycott of the next World Cup, on the exorbitant prices of tickets for this competition or even concerning the Peace Prize awarded to Donald Trump…
But Infantino also spoke on another subject, that of Russia’s absence on the international football and sport scene. An absence which dates back to 2022 and the start of the war in Ukraine with the invasion of Vladimir Putin’s army.
Russia excluded since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022
The Russian football team, which hosted the World Cup in 2018, was therefore unable to participate in Euro 2024 or the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.
A ban which “accomplished nothing” now believes Infantino who seems in favor of a return of the Russians. “We have to do it,” he says. Absolutely. Because this ban accomplished nothing, it only created more frustration and hatred. Allowing Russian girls and boys to play football in other parts of Europe would be beneficial. »
And to insist: “We should enshrine in our statutes the principle according to which we should never prohibit a country from playing football because of the actions of its political leaders. Someone has to maintain the connections. »
