FIFA boss Gianni Infantino can’t ignore Russian invasion

Gianni Infantino speaks six languages but last week, remarkably, he could not find one to make himself sound convincing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin caresses the trophy next to FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Moscow in 2018. Picture: AFP.

Put yourself in the no doubt expensive Italian shoes of Gianni Infantino. He is president of FIFA, the world’s most influential and mistrusted sports body. He has been in this position since 2016. Infantino is Swiss-Italian but also a Greek national.

He speaks six languages but last week, remarkably, he could not find one to make himself sound convincing.

At a press conference on Thursday, Infantino was asked if in the darkness of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine he would be holding on to the Order of Friendship medal he received from Vladimir Putin. In the summer of 2018, Putin and Infantino had seemed like buddies during the World Cup in Russia.

Seven months later the FIFA president was back in Moscow to receive the medal. “Big honour. Incredible,” was how the FIFA boss described the award.

Perhaps we should not have been surprised that instead of answering the question, Infantino uttered platitudes about football uniting and bringing people together. “The situation is obviously very tragic and worrying,” he said, avoiding any criticism of Putin.

“We are constantly reflecting on the role of sport, particularly the role of sport in trying to bring people together in a peaceful environment.”

For the moment at least, be sure that Infantino will not be binning his friendship medal.

He and his fellow FIFA bosses do have a problem, however.

Poland are due to play Russia in a World Cup playoff semi-final in Moscow on March 24. The winner of this game would then play the winner of Sweden against the Czech Republic for a place at the World Cup this year. On Saturday, the Polish FA president Cezary Kulesza said his country would not play against Russia, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Poland’s best and most influential player, Robert Lewandowski, supported Kulesza.

“It is the right decision,” he said. “I can’t imagine playing a match with the Russian national team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues. Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening.”

It seems as if Infantino is doing his damnedest to pretend it’s not happening.

Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic issued a joint statement saying that, because of safety concerns, they are not prepared to travel to Russia. The winners of their semi-final playoff matches are scheduled to meet in the final in Russia. They will not play there. They want FIFA to act quickly. Infantino says there will be a meeting of the FIFA bureau that deals with fixtures and he will get back to the countries involved.

There is an important distinction between what Kulesza, Lewandowski and the rest of the Poland team say and the joint statement calling for two games scheduled for Russia to be taken to another country.

The Poles are saying they don’t want to play Russia anywhere.

Wojciech Szczesny, once of Arsenal and now at Juventus, articulated the team’s position.

“The moment Putin decided to invade Ukraine he declared war not only on Ukraine but also on all the values Europe stands for … although my heart breaks while writing this, my conscience will not let me play … I refuse to play against players who represent the values and principles of Russia.”

Lewandowski, Szczesny and their Poland teammates are basically asking for Russia to be expelled from the World Cup.

This would be a good thing as, if nothing else, it would help the Russian people to fully appreciate the revulsion felt throughout Europe and beyond about the actions of their president.

There is the sense that Infantino is playing for time, hoping that FIFA will not have to make a big decision. If FIFA insists upon Russia’s continued participation in the World Cup, other countries will have decisions to make.

Lewandowski’s sentiment reverberates. “I can’t imagine playing a match with the Russian national team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues.” Neither should the rest of us be able to imagine it.

Although this is a dark moment, it has also been the moment when sport realised it has a voice and that voice can be heard.

For the past three days the front pages have listed the sanctions being imposed by the US, Europe and this nation.

And there in most summaries was UEFA’s decision to move the Champions League final from President Putin’s home city, St Petersburg, to Paris.

Beneath that was Formula One’s cancellation of this year’s Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. That race was scheduled for late September and F1 chiefs could have delayed a decision but chose not to. Hardly had Russia’s soldiers entered Ukraine than Sebastian Vettel said he didn’t think the Russian GP should go ahead and that, if it did, he would not be there. Max Verstappen indicated that he would not be there either and so F1 did the right thing.

Then there was Andrey Rublev’s protest after getting to the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships, writing “No war please!” on to a camera lens and letting his compatriots back in Russia know his thoughts on President Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

Seeing the brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko donning their Ukraine Territorial Defence Forces uniforms and saying they too would be fighting to save their country was inspiring.

These boxers are multi-millionaires from their efforts in sport’s most unforgiving arena who are now prepared to do whatever it takes to save their country.

There have been plenty of times in the past when sports organisations and their athletes looked the other way and played to the tune of the dictator and the most oppressive regimes.

More recently the IOC and FIFA were too ready to accept Putin’s billions and give him the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 World Cup. Those global events offered him a platform he did not deserve and a legitimacy that emboldened him.

The IOC president, Thomas Bach, and FIFA’s Infantino now look like idiots, unable to credibly denounce their friend. They took his money and now pay for it with their reputations.

Infantino, though, is in a bind. Poland will not play ball with Russia and the FIFA boss has to make a decision. It’s obvious what he needs to do and maybe more obvious that he will try to find a way not to do it.

The Sunday Times