On February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Many, including NATO and FIFA, disagree with Russia’s decision; FIFA has decided to ban Russia from all international competitions, move the champions league Final from Russia to Paris, and they have agreed to Remove Russian leagues and teams from all of their games; the most significant impact of this decision is that the World Cup set to take place this year in November, has removed Russia from all qualifying games for the World Cup.

This was very surprising to many because this isn’t something that FIFA would usually do. In 2014 during Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the 2018 World Cup, where Russia was the host country, was left unaffected. At the time, FIFA said that Russia hosting the World Cup could invoke positive change in the country.

No one knows how long this will continue. For all we know, there is a possibility that the 2022 World Cup could be canceled if this war escalates, based on the 1942 and 1946 world cups, which were both canceled due to World War II. This can be very worrisome for players because both Club and International competitions were canceled during World War II due to the war. Many players had signed up to fight, which resulted in many deaths.

In hopes this does not escalate to World War 3, this may still affect neighboring countries to Ukraine and Russia. To name a few, Poland, Germany, Finland, and Turkey are also at risk of having their international clubs in their respective leagues come to an indefinite halt. Even if this war does end, no one knows how this will affect Russia’s relationships in the soccer world. Sponsorships, Tournaments, and even signings of players and managers. Recently, Soccer Club Chelsea FC’s owner Roman Abramovich resigned due to Russia’s invasion. Yaroslav Rakitskiy is a Ukrainian Defender for the Russian Club Zenit who terminated his contract with the club. These are just a couple of examples of how this war affects the soccer world.

Source: https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/03/03/russia-appeal-fifa-uefa-ban-cas-world-cup-qualifying

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-short-history-of-sports-in-wartime