Russia excluded from international football until the end of the war with Ukraine

Already on February 28, 2022, UEFA and FIFA released a joint statement regarding the exclusion of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. 

Russian clubs were banned from the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Women's Champions League, and Youth League, while the national team lost its spot in the Nations League and was not allowed to participate in the World Cup in Qatar.

Russian clubs know for certain that they can only make their return to UEFA competitions once the war with Ukraine is over. During the interview with Metropolitan, Ceferin also addressed the end of the sponsorship deal with the Russian company Gazprom. 'We simply had to do this. After the onset of the war, we couldn't display an advertisement for this company while hundreds of millions of people are watching the match.'