Dhe world football association FIFA has approved a match between Russia and Uzbekistan. This is reported by the Russian news agency Tass. The result of the friendly, which is scheduled to take place in Tashkent on November 20 – the day of the World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador – will also be included in the association’s statistics.
A planned international match between the Russian selection and the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina had previously been cancelled. Prominent Bosnian players such as Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanić had strongly criticized the game scheduled for November 19 in advance. FIFA and European football’s governing body UEFA have banned Russia’s club and national teams from all competitions since the invasion of Ukraine began. Test matches are not affected by the sanctions.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) has removed Russian and Belarusian boxers from its rankings. The boxing association based in Mexico City confirmed this on its website. “The WBC stands for equality, respect and peace. Historically, the WBC has opposed any form of discrimination and abuse of power,” the association said in a statement: “It is unfortunate that the WBC’s position has resulted in athletes becoming innocent victims of aggression outside of our sport that… have in many ways harmed the world’s desire for peace.”
Russian government plans
However, the committee’s decision provides that individual Russian or Belarusian boxers can appeal to the WBC. This is open to athletes who are permanent residents of another country, are citizens of another country or live there as refugees, provided they have publicly opposed Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Shortly after the war began, the WBC decided that it would not allow fights between Russian and Belarusian boxers or fights taking place in either country.
The Russian government plans to integrate clubs from the occupied Ukrainian territories into its football championship. This is reported by Ukrainian media in agreement with the Russian news agency Tass. It is about the admission of clubs from Donetsk, Luhansk and from the occupied parts of the Zaporizhia and Cherson regions. These should play in the Russian football leagues in the future.
Already in 2014, after the annexation of Crimea, Russia had admitted three clubs to its second football division. Under pressure from the European football association UEFA, the clubs were once again banned from participating in official tournaments under the auspices of the Russian Football Union. They were disqualified from the competition and their league results annulled. However, the Kremlin-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, recently announced that Crimean football clubs will play in the second division of Russian football from next year.
