Russia poised for international football 'return' as FIFA considers dropping ban

Russia could be in contention for international football in the near future as FIFA is looking at dropping the competition ban that was imposed on the country in the wake of their invasion of Ukraine, Sky News has reported.

The controversial move comes just a week after the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) relaxed their conditions on Russia.

Russia was contentiously booted out of the World Cup play-offs in 2022 in the wake of the country's involvement in Ukraine, and has since been subject to a strict competition ban which prohibited the nation from qualifying for Euro 2024, while all club sides also prevented from playing in official competitions, such as the Champions and Europa leagues.  No international competition 

However, last week a UEFA committee voted to allow Under-17 sides to compete, with the condition that no national flags or kit were used and the matches played outside Russian territory, The Sun reported.

This move was condemned by a number of nations, including Sweden, Denmark and Poland, who supported the Ukraine stance and stated there should be no place for Russia in current competitions, despite the age of the players involved. 

FIFA (International Federation of Association Football)  is expected to fall in line with this move and allow the U-17 Russian team to compete in the 2024 Juinor World Cup if they qualify, according to The Sun.

This is expected to cause some issues as the event is set to be hosted in Sweden and the Swedish FA has reiterated that it would not allow a Russian nation to compete.

How effective the ban has been overall is another point of contention as Russia has still been permitted to play friendly matches since being slapped with the ban against the likes of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran. They also hosted Iraq in St Petersburg earlier this year.

Russia hosted the 2018 edition of the World Cup in an event that aimed to showcase the nation to the Western world. The host nation got as far as the quarter-finals in that edition before being knocked out by eventual finalists Croatia in a thrilling clash decided by a penalty shootout.