The decision to let a Russian youth team play at FIFA’s new Under-15 World Cup has pulled Ukrainian football back into open conflict with Zurich.

Darijo Srna, Shakhtar Donetsk’s sporting director and a former Croatia captain with 134 caps, told talkSPORT he no longer has any respect for Gianni Infantino, and extended an open-ended invitation to the FIFA president.

“I can just invite President Infantino one more time to visit Ukraine, and maybe he will change his mind after that. Until then, I don’t have respect for him or for the whole of FIFA,” Srna told talkSPORT.

The tournament, a new multi-tier competition featuring Russia for the first time since 2022, ran in Baku from 24 to 30 October 2026 and was won by Spain in the top tier. It was the first FIFA event a Russian side had entered since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when both FIFA and UEFA barred Russian clubs and national teams.

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Srna picks UEFA’s side

Srna drew a sharp line between the two governing bodies, telling talkSPORT that Aleksander Ceferin and Infantino are not the same kind of leader. The UEFA president, in his view, loves football; FIFA, under Infantino, had done nothing to protect a single Ukrainian club through nearly four years of war.

Ceferin was asked by UEFA’s 55 member associations to seek a fourth and final term in 2027, and has kept Russian clubs and national teams frozen out of UEFA competitions throughout.

Infantino fighting on several fronts

The attack lands on Infantino at a difficult moment for his presidency. FIFA’s plan to sell a minority stake in a new commercial entity controlling World Cup revenues, the FIFA Forward Enterprise, was valued at around $20 billion and collapsed on 31 July 2026 after UEFA and senior FIFA figures turned on it. UEFA has since set a deadline for FIFA to answer a list of questions about the aborted plan.

FIFA responded by offering council members restricted access to internal documents at its Zurich headquarters, rather than a public release. The dispute is now running into the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 2027, with nominations due on 18 November 2026.

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Infantino himself has told the FIFA Council he is open to an independent review of the body’s governance framework.

What Ukrainian clubs want from FIFA

Shakhtar have played their home European fixtures outside Ukraine since 2022. Srna’s point to talkSPORT was simple: FIFA’s job is to protect clubs, players and the game, and Ukrainian clubs have felt none of that protection.

UEFA’s position on Russian clubs and national teams has not shifted. They remain barred from its competitions.

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