When the Ukrainian association president Andriy Pavelko – wearing a bulletproof vest – was shown with an urgent video message from the middle of the war zone at the FIFA congress in Doha, the delegates should have froze in their veins.
Instead: polite applause and no-frills transition from FIFA President Gianni Infantino to the agenda. “Are there any other questions or comments? This is not the case“, the Swiss stated succinctly. Like at the annual rabbit breeders’ meeting. As routine as it was unemotional and irrelevant.
The Russian delegation, which, unlike the Ukrainian one, was able to be there in Qatar, sat down in the auditorium and heard that they need not fear any further-reaching consequences from the attack on Ukraine. Because the exclusion of Russia was not even voted on.
The Russians are currently not allowed to take part in FIFA competitions, so from the point of view of the global “soccer family” the sentence seems to have been exhausted for the time being. While almost the entire world has imposed harsh sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his aides. As surprising as it is shameful.