UEFA terminates Gazprom deal and kicks Russia from all tournaments 

FIFA and UEFA have decided: all Russian teams, whether national teams or clubs, should be suspended from participating in tournaments under the auspices of these organizations until further notice.

“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.”

FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement.

UEFA has also announced that it will immediately terminate its sponsorship agreement with Gazprom.

“UEFA has today decided to end its partnership with Gazprom across all competitions. The decision is effective immediately and covers all existing agreements including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024.”

Don`t miss out 👉: Russian occupants invade Ukraine: how it has affected the world of football

RFU will appeal to CAS against FIFA and UEFA’s decision to suspend Russian teams as they “categorically disagree with it”.

“We consider this decision to be contrary to the norms and principles of international competition as well as to the spirit of sport.  It is clearly discriminatory and detrimental to a huge number of athletes, coaches, staff of clubs and national teams, and above all to millions of Russian and foreign fans, whose interests should be primarily protected by international sports organisations. Such actions are creating a rift in the international sports community, which has always been committed to the principles of equality, mutual respect and independence from politics. We reserve the right to challenge the decision of FIFA and UEFA in accordance with the rules of international sports law.”

the Russian Football Union said in a statement.

The Russian group based in Saint Petersburg has sponsored the Champions League since 2012 and had renewed the contract with UEFA in May 2021, until 2024. It was also a sponsor of Euro 2020 (played in 2021 due to the pandemic) and should also be linked to Euro-2024.

• Oil producer Gazprom is one of the mainstays of Russia’s economy, the company was valued at $3 billion before they started a war in Ukraine.
• The specialized press evaluates the contract between UEFA and Gazprom at 40 million euros ($45 million) per year.
• Ukraine says more than 350 civilians have been killed and over 1,600 injured during attacks by Russian forces.