Gianni Infantino has described the exclusion as not achieving “anything” and said football should rise above politics
The ban on Russian football has achieved nothing but unnecessary frustration, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has told Sky News in an interview published on Monday. The football executive said sport and politics should be separate.
Since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, Russian and Belarusian athletes and national teams have been banned from most international competitions and sporting organizations, including FIFA and UEFA games and the Olympics.
Infantino stressed that he is “against bans” and “against boycotts as well,” arguing that they “don’t bring anything and just contribute to more hatred.”
Asked if FIFA should lift its ban on Russian teams Infantino was definitive. “We have to. Yes… at least at youth level. This ban has not achieved anything,” he stated, adding that the restrictions “just created more frustration, and hatred.”
Infantino’s comments come amid a broader thaw in restrictions on Russian athletes by international sports federations. Late last year, the IOC cleared youth athletes from both countries to compete under their national flags and anthems.
The head of the Russian Football Union (RFS), Alexander Dyukov later predicted that the ruling could prompt other sports bodies to gradually lift restrictions on all Russian competitors in 2026.
Last month, Russian Sports Minister and Olympic Committee chief Mikhail Degtyarev announced that Russian junior weightlifters had also been allowed to begin competing at international events under their national flag and anthem.
Moscow has long accused Western nations of pressuring federations to bar its athletes for political reasons and has repeatedly criticized international sports bodies, particularly the IOC, for “politicizing” sports. Last year, President Vladimir Putin also said athletes should have equal access based on merit, emphasizing that “politics has no place in sport.”
