By: Max Alexander

SAN JOSE, CALIF.- FIFA, the host of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has joined the world in speaking out and taking action over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia announced a large-scale invasion of the neighboring country Ukraine.  As of now, Russia has conquered one city, Kherson, but they aren’t planning on letting up soon. This invasion sparked a bunch of controversies, as it was the second time in 8 years that Russia was forcefully pushing troops into Ukraine. 

Since this incident, many countries, organizations and groups are taking charge and removing, banning and blocking Russia from many different competitions. The ban that stood out the most was FIFA. EA Sports removed the Russian and Belarusian teams from the FIFA video game, along with another major sports game, NHL 22. 

On Feb. 28. 2022, UEFA and FIFA made the final decision to ban all Russian clubs and the Russian international club from all contests, including the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. The Russian National team was set to face off against the Polish National team on Mar. 24, 2022. Russia had a very high chance of making the final tournament, with pretty easy opponents still to face.  

Many different people have conflicting views on this move from FIFA and UEFA. Shadab Ali, a freshman at Silver Creek, says that the move was too extreme, saying that punishing innocent players is too harsh. He says that removing the flag is more appropriate and that doing that will still bring attention to the matter in a less brutal way.