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FIFA needs to clear Russia to play internationally, says Infantino

"This ban has not achieved anything," FIFA chief Gianni Infantino said

FIFA Chief Gianni Infantino Ton Molina/Getty Images

FIFA Chief Gianni Infantino

© Ton Molina/Getty Images

LONDON, February 2. /TASS/. The world’s governing football body, FIFA, should lift the previously imposed ban on Russia's participation in international competitions, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino stated on Monday in an interview with Sky News.

"Oh, definitely. We have to," Infantino said in an exclusive interview with Sky News commenting on Russia’s international participation. "Yes… at least at youth level. This ban has not achieved anything."

"It has just created more frustration, and hatred," he said.

"I'm against bans, I'm against boycotts as well. I think they don't bring anything… they just contribute to… more hatred," the FIFA chief continued.

In late December 2025, Russian Football Union (RFU) Secretary General Maxim Mitrofanov said in an interview with TASS that presidents of the world and European governing football federations, FIFA and UEFA respectively, stated that they lacked the authority to bring Russia back to international play. According to Mitrofanov, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Alexander Ceferin had been very cryptic in their statements on Russia’s global-level reinstatement.

Russian national football teams are currently barred by all FIFA-sanctioned bodies from playing at the 2028 UEFA Euro Cup that will be hosted by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales between June 9 and July 9. The qualifiers for the quadrennial European football championship will be played in 2027.

Russia is also skipping due to FIFA sanctions the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. The matches will be staged in 16 cities across the three countries. This will be the first FIFA World Cup featuring 48 teams instead of the previous 32-team format.

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national teams and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

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