Polish football federation president Cezary Kulesza tweets: 'We are not interested in participating in this game of appearances. Our stance remains intact: Polish National Team will NOT PLAY with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.'— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) February 27, 2022
It will be interesting to see how long it takes FIFA to u turn. I can’t see this position still being in place in a week. The Europa League might be a more difficult issue as CAS might well stop any attempt to remove Spartak Moscow. That tournament could well not finish this season.
In fairness to FIFA, their statements don't give me the impression that they think this is the end of it. They're a large and unwieldy bureaucracy so it's not surprising to me that they can get the agreement they need for mild sanctions more quickly than for the more meaningful ones. I'd be inclined to give them a bit more time before we say that they've failed on this.
Me too. They do actually mention that expelling Russia from qualifying is a possibility if things don’t improve. Its not an easy decision to take legally as they will have to try and win It at cass.
I'm not sure about that part. They should be prepared to do what they think is right and necessary irrespective of whether it might be appealed later - and again, while there could be something in their rules that would hinder them from banning Russia, I've yet to see you or anyone else identify it. I just think that it's fair to acknowledge that a) they have to unite the presidents of continental confederations that are, in some cases, very distant from what's going on before they can lay down sanctions, which is bound to involve quite a lot of politicking, b) they have to decide how best to formulate any steps that they do take, which becomes more important to get right the more severe the sanctions are (and therefore more long-winded to work through), and c) they've explicitly talked about "first measures" and discussions around "additional measures", which suggests that they recognise that this won't be enough for many people, and want us to know that they recognise that. They also seem to be suggesting that they want to be in lock-step with both UEFA and the IOC on any sanctions that they do impose. I'm not sure why they need that with respect to the IOC, but it's another reason why it might take them a little longer to agree on the right steps to take. Of course, it could just be FIFA being a bunch of self-interested sociopaths as they so often have been in the past, but I'm inclined to give them a little longer to prove otherwise.
Western nations launched an illegal invasion of Iraq but I don't recall any of us being banned from FIFA competitions.
Russia are taking a case regarding being forced to compete as neutrals (Not banned entirely) in Biathlon to CAS. That verdict will be interesting to see what CAS decides.
Well perhaps we could have been, but people are always going to be more outraged by attacks on a relatively stable democracy than on a totalitarian state with an extraordinary track record of human rights abuses against both insiders and outsiders. I'm not sure why you'd expect them to be viewed in the same way.
I don't think it is hypocrisy. People are reacting to what's going on now based on their moral codes, not the legality of it. And this is an invasion that the vast majority of people see as immoral, whereas Iraq was much more divisive for what I think are obvious reasons. To be clear, this isn't about my own opinions. I couldn't see what Blair's government hoped to achieve by invading Iraq at the time, and nothing since has really changed my view of that.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/60560567 big news but the clause about being legally impossible is worrying as it shows even the IOC feel it could be hard to exclude Russia and Belarus. Who knows what happens if FIFA and UEFA find their can’t legally ban Russia. Surely either the end of CAS or the end of FIFA and UEFA. Most likely the former.
NEW | Understand that FIFA is in advanced talks over the full suspension of Russia until further notice. They are working closely with UEFA and an announcement is expected later today.— Dan Roan (@danroan) February 28, 2022
I wonder if a team will do a Denmark in Euro 92 and take full advantage of gaining a place at the expense of a Russian team. Might be in World Cup qualifying or womens euros (Where Portugal are surely going to replace Russia as they lost to them in a play off.)
Who knows. The Russian Football union has just announced it might be taking FIFA to CAS. The result of any hearing is hard to predict.
Abramovich selling Chelsea. Two big questions that I think are relevant here: Will the new owner continue to invest in the academy at a level that allows it to be a world leading talent factory? Will the new owner throw money at the first team to remould it to their own preferences/chase immediate trophies? Which would have the knock on consequence of reducing opportunity for those academy players.
I suspect they might try and follow a Liverpool approach. Focus on the League and CL and use youth a fair bit particularly in the other cups. It be interesting to see what happens through to the English first teamers. Mount in particular only has two years on his contract and James has apparently already attracted interest abroad.
As per the second point, is it really possible they could have much more reduced possibilities? Aside from the season they were banned from transfers when Lampard came in, they've never really used the academy in a meaningful way. I'd be surprised if they had any meaningful change in terms of the academy investment given its clearly very profitable for them right now. Regardless of the intentions of the new owner, the academy bringing in a lot of money is going to make anyone happy.
Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned. Big big news. Considering the club is now only allowed to let season ticket holders in they won’t be able to extend contracts or buy or sell players. Not sure how that affects players on loan like Gallagher.
Obviously I don’t really know how the full effects envolve but sounds like Chelsea is in big trouble! Sounds like jobs will be on the line for Chelsea staff and god knows how it effects players, especially Academy players?
I’m not sure if the academy is covered by the license. I imagine the 16+ category is because those players are paid but I am not sure about the juniors. Also not sure how far the definition of staff extends to. Obviously it covers the players (Both male and female) and the core staff linked to those squads but I’m not sure about the academy staff. As they can only admit existing season ticket holders presumably next season they will have no crowd whatsoever?
God damn Austria! Let me down tonight! Errrrr……..I guess we don’t have to worry about Portugal going through as surely they won’t screw up against North Macedonia…….will they?