FIFA has been urged to provide a path for players to leave the Russian Premier League
Russian football could be set for the departure of a host of foreign players amid calls for FIFA to reopen the transfer window to allow stars a route out of the country should they wish to do so.
The Polish Football Association, which has been critical of Russian football infrastructure since the beginning of Moscow’s military offensive in Ukraine, is said to have petitioned FIFA to provide a pathway for players, particularly those born outside of Russia, to leave the country as it faces economic sanctions.
The Polish FA had previously announced its refusal to play a scheduled World Cup qualifier against Russia in Moscow later this month – a stance which was joined by several other countries before Russia was blacklisted by both FIFA and UEFA earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Russian clubs have faced a series of departures of foreign players and managers in recent days.
Ukrainian defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy was granted his release from Zenit St. Petersburg, while German managers Daniel Farke and Markus Gisdol have left their positions at Krasnodar and Lokomotiv Moscow respectively.
Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak has reportedly asked to leave Krasnodar, where eight foreign stars have had their contracts suspended.
Speaking on Thursday, the president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, said that he was unsure of what must be done for the ban on Russian football to be reversed.
“For now it stays and we are waiting for peace to come,” he said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit.
“Football will probably be the least important thing.
“I am proud of the football family that we stood together to do our part. The football part. It’s really hard to say what will happen tomorrow but this war should stop, this madness should stop.”
Russia has been barred from competing in both international and European club competition in recent days, as well as having the hosting rights for the 2022 Champions League final removed from St. Petersburg.
The Russian Football Union (RFU) has announced its intention to appeal the bans with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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