Paris: French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet said that Russia should be expelled from the World Cup 2022. Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which required thousands of commoners to flee their homes, many footballers and others have come forward in support of Ukraine.
France are the defending World Cup champions, they defeated Croatia in the final in 2018, to clinch the World Cup title in Moscow. “The world of sport, and especially football, cannot remain neutral. I certainly would not oppose the expulsion of Russia,” said Le Graet.
Not only France, even the likes of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic refused to play Russia during the World Cup play-offs. Poland were scheduled to play Russia in Moscow on March 24. The winner of the match was about to play the winner of the match between Sweden and Czech.
Le Graet supported the trio’s stance and said, “In these dramatic circumstances, how can one envisage playing football against this country.” FIFA is yet to take any action against Russia although they were reportedly “concerned” about the “tragic situation”.
However, UEFA did take action against Russia by stripping Saint Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena of the Champions League final event which is about to be played on May 28. They awarded the same to Stade de France in Paris.
It is also believed that UEFA is debating whether to cancel their sponsorship deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom. The deal worth 40 million euros ($45 million) a year was renewed in 2021 to continue till 2024.
