Russia's Ban
Why the Russian national and club ban from FIFA & UEFA is bad for the political climate of world football On the 28th of Februrary, UEFA announced that Russian teams, both national and club, will be banned from competitions due to the invasion of Ukraine. While this has been hailed internationally, and I agree on the principal, I call into question FIFA’s decision to get involved in geopolitics. I am not calling out their decision to ban Russia, to be clear, but rather their refusal to ban other nations for similar events. Many nations in FIFA’s lived history (the organisation was founded in 1904) such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria, Israel, Iran, Spain, Germany, Chile, even Russia in the past, have committed attrocious acts similar to, if not worse than, what the invasion of Ukraine has been while Football teams have not been banned from playing. I ask, why now? It is almost rhetorical. I know it is because the countries are European and seen, as many western p...