Despite being banned by FIFA, Russia plays football as a mix of politics and sport

If you need further proof that sport can influence politics – especially international sport and especially international football – Russia is a case in point.

In the year In February 2022, Russia was banned from the competition by both FIFA and UEFA following its invasion of Ukraine. This means no World Cup in Qatar and no UEFA Nations League and no Euro 2024 after the ban is extended. Russian clubs have also been banned from European competitions such as the Champions League.

But here’s the thing: Russia hasn’t stopped playing international soccer. They simply chose someone else to play with.

After the ban came into effect, they faced Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. And last week, Russia played Iran in Tehran and Iraq in the 2018 World Cup finals in St. Petersburg. Of course, these were all friendly games, but Russia may have a taste of competitive football this summer. When participating in Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championship.

CAF is a regional federation within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It has six members (Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan) and this will be the inaugural tournament. Inviting teams from other confederations is nothing new in soccer — the Copa America has done it repeatedly and for decades — and CAF decided to ask Russia to participate because it had nothing better to do.

You can see and perhaps sympathize with the argument that the Russian FA is not at fault. Their job is to take care of Russian football. Russia is sanctioned by their government’s actions and must live with the consequences. They can’t play in major tournaments, most countries don’t play them in friendlies and many can’t even if they want to because the international calendar is so packed with competitive matches that there are very few open days. But hey, if you can find someone to play them, why wouldn’t you?

That is one view, and you may or may not agree with it, but there is also a wider view, which is probably more German.

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Most of the world – witness the UN resolutions – and certainly Western developed countries and their allies are distancing themselves from Russia. As an outcast on the playground, what do you do? You’ll meet other outcasts: those who aren’t part of the rich and famous, or aspire to be part of it. Countries like Iran have also been on the receiving end of heavy Western sanctions for years. Or the various “Stans”, disliked and ignored by most of the world for most of their (short) history as independent nations.

Two years ago, it was unthinkable (and pointless) for the Russian FA to play against Tajikistan or Turkmenistan (108 and 135 respectively in the rankings). Today, that’s all you have and by doing that, football shows real life.

Russia (as in the country) is trying to gain support among non-Western countries. Iran was no slouch and indeed has been supplying Russia with drone technology. But Russian leader Vladimir Putin recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Since last summer, Putin has He worked to lobby. India, China and South Africa for support or at least neutrality in the Ukraine conflict and indeed all three Last month it was abandoned From the UN resolution calling for peace in Ukraine.

You need help where you can get it, which brings us back to football. Without an end to the war in Ukraine, UEFA’s ban on Russia and Russian clubs has no real end. But what if they officially announced their withdrawal from UEFA and simply joined the Asian Football Confederation? That situation has been brewing for some time and last month AFC President Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa did nothing to address it. “We have good relations with the Russian Federation and the rest of the European confederations,” he said. As we strive to keep politics out of football, we seek the benefit of the game.

You can imagine strong opposition from AFC members whose governments such as Australia, South Korea and Japan have taken a strong stance in support of Ukraine. But you can see how the line “politics and sports don’t mix” plays well with some regional governments. And of course, there is one condition. Israel was part of the AFC (geographically defined) until 1974, when it was excluded for political reasons related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Today, although Israel is part of UEFA, ironically, they have previously competed in Oceania Football Confederation events.

But for a Russian football savant, such a switch makes little sense. Most of Russia is actually part of the Asian continent, but most of the football clubs are on the European side of the Ural Mountains. From an ironic perspective, switching to the AFC means giving up lucrative competitions such as the Euros and UEFA club competitions, which offer less competition and less money.

Also, how will FIFA President Gianni Infantino react? On the one hand, if he’s re-elected (by acclamation, no less) and there’s no new election until 2027, you’d think he could take a stand without worrying about staying in office. On the other hand, well, it’s FIFA. He tolerates politics if there is any, but prefers that we focus only on the sports part. And if that’s what the members want, well… who’s Infantino to say no?

And so we are left with something between chance and compromise for political reasons. First there was the way we got here: politics and war.

But this is football. Well, this is sports, and anyone who tells you that politics and sports are separate and can be kept apart either cares little or is simply wrong and unrealistic. Instead of pretending, it is better to face and deal with the fact that international sports continue to be used and displayed for international politics and personal interests at the same time. And that won’t change as far as people are concerned.