SYKTYVKAR, April 1. /TASS/. FIFA, the globe’s governing body of football, decided to approve the status of Russian as one of its official languages and that speaks for the organization’s acknowledgement of Russia’s merits in the sphere of football, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said on Friday.
FIFA’s press office announced on Thursday its decision to include the Russian language as one of the official languages used by the world federation. The FIFA Charter previously listed four languages approved for use in the organization’s circulation of documents and official correspondence, specifically, they were the English, Spanish, French and German languages.
"Russian was acknowledged as one of FIFA’s official languages and this serves as confirmation of respect for the recent events that Russia has held at the highest level and for the Russian Football Union’s [RFU] active stance," the Russian sports minister told journalists.
Matytsin also stated that FIFA’s decision in regard to Russia should serve as an example for other global sports federations.
"FIFA, being one of the most powerful federations uniting over 200 countries, resorted to a balanced decision and this is a good example for other countries, their leaders and politicians, who must understand that sports is the most powerful tool for getting united and further development."
"Negative emotions will fade into the background," he continued. "I hope that practically all international federations will realize that the development of global sports is impossible without Russia’s participation."
Sports sanctions against Russia
The press service of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) announced on February 28 that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from taking part in FIFA tournaments.
Later, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) rolled out the same decision in regards to Russian football. Both FIFA and UEFA linked their decision to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
The Russian national football team finished the qualifying group stage for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2nd place of Group H with 22 points after 10 matches, which saw the Russian squad proceeding to the playoffs, where they had another chance to qualify for the world’s largest football tournament.
Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup between November 21 and December 18 at eight stadiums in seven cities across the country, namely in Doha, Lusail, Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Umm Salal and Madinat ash Shamal.
In March 2015, FIFA officially announced that the 22nd edition of FIFA’s flagship event would be played in November and December 2022, with the final match set for December 18, 2022, coinciding with - Qatar National Day. The objective, in principle, was to hold the tournament over 28 days.