The suspension means that, barring an unlikely change of course in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the country will not be able to face Poland in a World Cup play-off semi-final next month. UEFA has also terminated its deal with energy company Gazprom. which is majority-owned by the Russian state and is also a major sponsor of the Champions League.
The sponsorship deal has been in place since 2012 and has been reported to be worth around £33.4m (€40m) per season.
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A joint FIFA and UEFA statement read: "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.
"Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people."
1 Comments
The whole world is facing Russia.
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