Ukraine slams Infantino for saying Russia should be allowed back into FIFA

February 3, 2026 Oliver Obel

Ukraine has sharply criticized FIFA president Gianni Infantino after he suggested Russia should be allowed back into international football, reigniting a dispute over whether global sport can remain neutral during an active war.

For Kyiv, the answer is clear. Officials argue that sporting bans are not symbolic gestures but part of sustained international pressure on Moscow more than three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Infantino’s comments, made to Sky Sports, focused on easing restrictions for youth players. Russia has been barred from FIFA competitions since 2022, a move that followed the invasion and mirrored broader sanctions imposed by Western governments.

According to Sky Sports, Infantino said the ban had failed to reduce hostility and instead deepened resentment. He argued that allowing Russian children to compete abroad could help bridge divides, particularly at youth level.

Kyiv points to the cost paid by children

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha rejected that argument in a post on X on Feb. 2, responding directly to the idea that youth sport could be separated from the war.

“Six-hundred seventy-nine Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football Russia killed them,” Sybiha wrote, citing figures released by Ukrainian authorities.

“And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia's failure to end its war. Future generations will view this as a shame reminiscent of the 1936 Olympics.”

The reference evokes the Games held in Nazi Germany, often cited as a warning about how international sport can be used to normalize aggression and authoritarianism.

https://twitter.com/andrii_sybiha/status/2018385051398832517

FIFA and a familiar backlash

FIFA has faced similar criticism before. In 2023, it briefly moved to reinstate Russian under-17 teams, only to reverse the decision after protests from European football associations and governments.

A year later, in December 2024, the organization again drew outrage when a map shown during the draw for the 2026 World Cup excluded Crimea from Ukraine, despite the peninsula being internationally recognized as Ukrainian territory.

An investigation published in December 2025 by Follow the Money, a Dutch investigative journalism outlet, reported that FIFA had pressured European clubs to pay outstanding transfer fees to Russian entities despite sanctions introduced after the invasion.

Sport, neutrality, and pressure

Ukrainian officials say Russia has long treated international sport as an extension of state policy rather than a neutral arena. Ahead of the Winter Olympic Games in Milan, President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on individuals and organizations linked to Russian sport, arguing that athletics are routinely used for state-sponsored propaganda.

Some international sports bodies, including athletics and ice hockey federations, have maintained restrictions on Russian participation, highlighting a growing divide over how neutrality should be applied. FIFA’s position has increasingly placed it at odds with that approach.

Ukrainian authorities also say many Russian athletes competing internationally as neutral participants have documented ties to the Kremlin or have publicly supported the war.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says the invasion has killed hundreds of its athletes and coaches and destroyed sports facilities across the country through missile and drone attacks losses Kyiv argues cannot be separated from any discussion about Russia’s return to global competition.

Sources: Sky Sports, Follow the Money