No evidence Putin threatened FIFA over its decision to ban Russia from World Cup
Last updated on: 11 March,2022 11:55 pm
No evidence Putin threatened FIFA over its decision to ban Russia from World Cup
REUTERS - There is no public record of Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening FIFA over its decision to ban his country from the soccer World Cup, as alleged by some social media users.
The baseless claim can be seen attributing a brief alleged quote to the Russian leader.
It comes after soccer governing bodies FIFA and UEFA suspended Russia s national teams and clubs from international competitions until further notice due to the country s invasion of Ukraine (here).
The move makes it likely that Russia will be excluded from this year’s World Cup and the women’s Euro 2020 tournament.
Shared thousands of times, posts have claimed that Putin said: “Russia will play at the Qatar 2022 FIFA world cup or there will be no world cup to talk about”.
But Reuters could not find any evidence that Putin made such a statement.
Firstly, there does not seem to be any reference to this statement on the Kremlin website, where Putin’s speeches are transcribed.
Secondly, searches in both Russian and English do not bring up any reliable news outlet reporting on him saying this.
The Russian Football Union, meanwhile, has said it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban.