Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein has criticised Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, over his organisation’s delays in barring Russia from the World Cup following their invasion of Ukraine last week.
FIFA were branded as an ‘absolute disgrace’ for initially failing to throw Russia out of the tournament, with the governing body having announced sanctions but stopping short of an outright ban in an eyebrow-raising decision.
Russia were even allowed to compete under the name ‘Football Union of Russia’, although they were not permitted a flag or anthem. They would also have been tasked with finding a neutral country willing to host their matches.
Pressure quickly ramped up on FIFA to impose a more fitting punishment as the bloodshed in eastern Europe continues, and they duly relented when finally announcing the decision to kick the country out of the showpiece event.
Now, Russia will not compete at the Qatar World Cup, with Poland given a bye to a play-off final against either Sweden or Czech Republic later this month.
The decisions were made by bureau of council by the heads of all six continental confederations, including UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
Sportsmail has also reported that Russia were set to be kicked out of the women’s European Championship, which will be held in England this summer.
But despite the U-turn, Bernstein has been left underwhelmed by the speed at which FIFA have acted – and he believes Infantino’s close ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin have only exacerbated the situation.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Bernstein said: ‘His relationship with Russia is obviously a close one, as you can see. The relationship is just too close.
David Bernstein has criticised FIFA for the delay over barring Russia from the World Cup
FIFA president Gianni Infantino (L) has shared close ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin
‘I think their reaction has done a great deal of damage to FIFA in particular, and not much credit to football generally.’
Asked whether FIFA are not fit for purpose in the wake of their delays, Bernstein added: ‘I think FIFA appears to continue to be a reactionary organisation. May I say, not the only sports organisation in the world that applies to.
‘The IOC [International Olympic Committee] has been very slow with its dealings with certain countries and certainly with Russia. I don’t know whether I’d use the term ‘fit for purpose’ or not, but it’s not where it should be.’
It is believed that the UK Government were set to condemn FIFA to failing to take tough enough action before the ban was introduced, and Labour MP Chris Bryant labelled the response from the organisation as a ‘shambles’.
Former FA chairman Bernstein believes Infantino’s relationship with Russia is ‘just too close’
But Russia now find themselves in the sporting wilderness with their athletes and national teams barred from international competitions with immediate effect.
FIFA and UEFA even delivered a rare display of unity when releasing a statement announcing that football would be clamping down on the country.
‘FIFA and UEFA have today decided that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice,’ read a joint statement.
‘Football is fully united and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine.
‘Both presidents of FIFA and UEFA hope the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace among people.’
FIFA threw Russia out of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup following the invasion of Ukraine
It means Russia are unlikely to compete in the Women’s European Championships this summer
FIFA appeared reluctant to expel Russia from the World Cup because of Infantino’s close links to Putin – but at the weekend, it became apparent they would be guided by the actions of the IOC.
The IOC called on sports organisations to ban all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from international events, a stance which came off the back of an Executive Board meeting where the invasion of Ukraine was discussed.
Putin has also been stripped of his Olympic order by the committee ‘considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past.’
Athletes from Belarus are now paying the price after their homeland assisted Putin’s offensive by allowing their territory to be used to station troops and launch attacks.
Putin (L) is pictured awarding an Order of Friendship to Infantino during a ceremony in 2019
Russia are able to appeal against the suspensions at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. There, they were successful in 2020 when getting bans on using their flag and anthem after doping violations reduced from four years to two.
Meanwhile in Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of war crimes after forces launched what were believed to be cluster and vacuum bombs in an attempt to turn the tide of the bloody conflict.
In a late night address directed at Russia, Zelensky said there would ‘definitely be an international tribunal. Prosecutors at The Hague intend to open a probe soon.
A cluster bomb attack on the city of Kharkiv yesterday killed at least 11 people and wounded scores more, with Ukraine’s ambassador to the US accusing Putin’s troops of using a banned thermobaric bomb on the capital of Kyiv overnight.
The headquarters of the Kharkiv administration in Ukraine was hit by shelling this morning
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