How Russia is creeping back into football
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 13. 05. 2023
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine, firstly in 2014, but in far greater and deadlier numbers on February 24th 2022 the country has been isolated politically, economically and culturally.
And Russia has been suspended from UEFA and FIFA. But they want to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. How could they do that? Would they have to move federations? Well, it has been done before.
James Montague explains. Philippe Fenner illustrates.
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#Russia - Sport
To say that Australia switched to Asian qualifiers because they're tired of smashing Oceania opponents is way too generous. The truth is they were fed up of getting smashed by South Americans in almost every playoff.
The fundamental problem with the OFC is that those nations prefer rugby over soccer/football. If there was one thing the 2026 World Cup's 48 team format did right, it was guaranteeing a spot for the OFC. It always felt harsh that New Zealand would cruise through the OFC every time just to get killed by South American teams.
@@shuucuz âin almost everyâ
Exactly
@@shuucuz keyword was "once"
@@shuucuz now thatâs an achievement. I take back every criticism Iâve ever had of Australia, I apologise
Russia playing in the 2026 World Cup in the US would be *wild*
Not if Trump is president. He would probably put Putin up at Mar a lago and fly him on AF1 to the games.
@@themrwoody1434 brainwashed comment
@@zack3753 how so?
@@zack3753brainwashed reply
will not be happening, best teams from europe would not play and UEFA (with their closest ally now CONMEMBOL) would enjoy using this as leverage against FIFA.
So what I take from this whole thing is: it depends on how much FIFA are offered in bribery...
No.
Europe just needs to surrender half a WC qualification position to the Asian Confederation.
Yes
Rubles are worthless so good luck with that lol
â@@Smooy1111 keep on dreaming buddy
Not really tbh, FIFA never banned Russia in the first place, it's UEFA that banned Russia. Mainly not even the UEFA itself, but more of it's country member. A country joins another confederation because of banned from another confederation was already happened before, Israel was in AFC(Asian Confederation) and they switched to UEFA for the same exact reason.
1. Kazakhstan only joined UEFA in 2002, not in 1991;
2. Russia refused to take part in the CAFA tournament a couple of weeks ago.
I guess those Brits from TIFO donât care
Great pfp
I wonder if Infantino was obliged to return all bribe money when he agreed to suspend Russia from FIFA.
i wonder about bribe money, that makes russia and Katar home for FIFA`s championship`s/
I bet he had to spend it all on heavier security, one day itâll probably catch up to him, these people have long memories.
Think the bribes went to the previous FIFA heads, before Infantino took over. Doubt they kept all the dirty money in the company account
Nah hes goimg to take more if he would allow russia ro seitch federations
Donât worry he received more bribe money from the US 2026 World Cup bid đ
Tell me why football clubs and footballers should be punished for something that has nothing to do with them? I donât remember the USA and U.K. being suspended when they invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia havenât been suspended, despite their 5 year war in Yemen making Ukraine look like a picnic. And Israel are still uefa despite shelling civilians on a daily basis, levelling entire apartment blocks and neighbourhoods killing all families including women and children in them
ĐĄĐżĐŸŃŃ ĐČĐœĐ” ĐżĐŸĐ»ĐžŃĐžĐșĐž (ĐžŃ ŃĐžŃĐ°ŃĐ°)
What about Russia killing my people huh? Why are they not suspended earlier?
Most of the russian clubs are funded by government/national corporations/putin's friend's corporations who are under sanctions. It is a right decision imo, however there is definitely hipocrisy, I would also like to see same attitude towards western NT and clubs for the war crimes they also commit/commited
Sending a message to the people of Russia for one, and also that sports are heavily funded by the country in Russia. We can have a discussion about UK/USA later but whataboutism doesn't help that the Russian invasion and war is happening at this very moment and the sanctions and bans are to stop that now... we can't do anything about the past so the whataboutism doesn't help.
Imagine how confused in the head you have to be defending a country that is bombing the home town of a singing contestant show with civilians while at the said singing contest majority of European countries are singing about and for love, togetherness and united by music.
â@@dilmuratyunussov8810 how is it the right decision?.. Its pure hypocrisy
will be interesting how australia react if russia is accepted into asia, considering how similar australia is to western countries
I don't see why they would care. They were happy jumping in bed with Asia and I can easily name a handful of Asian countries that aren't exactly squeaky clean.
i doubt they would just refuse to play and lose out on qualifying for future World Cups
@@listey sportwise, they wont care, political wise?i dont know
Australia đ
â@@pp-vf8lsI was talking politically
Completely skirts the issue of how they would get Australia, South Korea, and Japan to approve their membership.
First it will be a majority vote so it does not matter . The head of AFC is all from the Oil Country . Second, I really doubt South Korea and Japan will do anything. Unlike woke Euro countries, Asian does not care about Ukraine at all .
But there only a minority of Asian countries
They are a minority. Whatever gulf nations want will happen
the next video should be about how america and uk avoided football bans after invading iraq
Bunch of hypocrite over here wanting to ban russia from everything and US and Nato countries get a pass.
Because they are fifa biggest donators they can get away with those type of things
Because the invasion of Iraq was not as unpopular as the invasion Ukraine. Nobody was refusing to play against the UK or US, whereas the whole of Europe plus an assortment of countries from Asia and the Americas are refusing to play against Russia.
The invasion of Iraq is just not comparable to the invasion Ukraine. Even though many in the international community condemned the invasion for a variety of reasons, it did not uproot the international order, it did not cause global economic turmoil and it did not raise the spectre of nuclear war.
Nobody believed that the US were gonna annex Iraq or anything or that they would install a puppet dictator. Everyone knew the end result would be a democracy in Iraq, however effective, whereas Russia is simply trying to conquer Ukraine
@@yoloswaggins7121 no i think the answer is that america can do whatever it wants and russia is not allowed to do whatever it wants, its just like when america can invade vietnam and any other country it chooses but when russia invades afghanistan then there is an olympic boycott of 1980 moscow olympics
ok so how much does an invasion have to uproot the international order, how much global economic turmoil does it have to produce or how much spectre of nuclear war needs to be raised before you get banned from competition? legitimate question, keep in mind america can explode 2 nuclear bombs on entire civilian population of 2 cities and everybody makes excuses about why its not a war crime
@@yoloswaggins7121 You dont think the iraqi government was handpicked by the americans? Good one. Same with afghanistan. Good. One.
It is strange how the americans "support democracy" as long as the people dont elect someone who wants to nationalize the countrys economy. Strange thing that.
Why was Israel given wins when opponents refused to play, but not Russia?
Because itâs Israel, they just get everything because of fear of being calling anti-semitic
FIFA was ok with Israelâs apartheid policies and not ok with the invasion of Ukraine so Russia was banned from playing by FIFA and in Israelâs case only their opponent refused to play
Why didn't FiFa banned USA when they invaded Iraq
Russia is banned from FIFA also, it will make no difference if they switch from UEFA to AFC. It's different to play friendlies matches and tournaments, but they can't take part in any FIFA competition including qualifiers.
I think we may need to pay attention to how AFC members will lobby for it, in case Russia switched to AFC. Unfortunately, Tifo Football was correct, Asian nations, majority of them being authoritarian, won't hesitate to question FIFA to allow Russia back.
If the AFC accepts Russia into their federation, they would at least be able to participate in the Asian Cup and have their club teams entered their continental competitions. Same with their youth & women teams. That's already a big difference from UEFA, both on a sports and financial level.
They can't because they aren't tied to a Confederation presently
â@@diomuda7903 have you ever questioned the country that travels the globe engaging in wars let sports be sports I'm sure you know the nation involved in the most conflicts globally and they have never been sanctioned from any WC or major sport
â@@876jamaicanyouth You cannot compare the US to Russia. Russia have been in less conflicts in recent decades because they have been in a weak position since the collapse of the Union, but it's pretty clear that they would conquer and annex large swathes of territory if they could
If we're counting on FIFA to be morally upstanding, well, welcome to the Asian Football Confederation Russia
If Russia is not allowed to play, why are KSA, Israel, the US, Azerbaijan etc. allowed to do so?!
@@RiwenX Saudi Arabia has the legitimate government of Yemen calling for the intervention. This sounds hypocrite, but since it is Yemeni government's request, Saudi Arabia can join the war with backing.
Azerbaijan has bitter tensions with Armenia, but Karabakh, which has predominently Armenian population, is internationally seen as part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan campaigned that they were fighting for integrity, that means as long as Azerbaijan doesn't attack Armenia, they won't be sanctioned.
USA invaded many countries, but the United States never proclaimed attacked nations to be new American colonies. Nor even American map shows Afghanistan or Panama to be American provinces.
Russia violated everything. Russia invaded a sovereign country, annexed territories of another nation, and blatantly regarded them to be part of Imperial Russia.
@@diomuda7903 Conveniently left out Israel. Also, the US is literally in Syria to steal their oil. They even bombed the country when on of their mercenaries (sorry, contractor) was killed. The US has destroyed many legitimate governments, stole natural resources and left the countries to ruin. I condemn Russia. However, anyone not condemning the US equally is a f***ing hypocrite.
@@RiwenX Hey uh, I think all of them should be sanctioned too? Idk why you think I wouldnât lol. Though I will say the key difference is that Russia is invading and annexing another nationâs territory. You could argue that about Israel as well, but Palestine isnât recognized as a state (despite it deserving to be) by most Western Nations
Athletes have nothing to do with wars and politics. Let them play.
International Relations and FĂștbol, my favorite combination
The problem isn't the asian federation, it's FIFA. Russia and do whatever it wants but if FIFA says it can't participate in the world cup, nothing matters.
Think you'll find the problem is russia đ€Ł
Pay infantino and youâll see that Russia can come back
Exactly!! The World Cup is a FIFA tournament not Asia Cup.
well, at least Russia will get to play in the Asian Cup, which features familiar World Cup teams like Japan, South Korea, Iran, and Australia. The tournament will keep Russia's team competitive, at least.
@@cakexpress6235 Yep, FIFA accepts bribes. But does Russia have the money to pay after all this war.
If FIFA applied it's principles uniformly, then many countries would be suspended, including the US.
lmfao
how?
@@jacoblawton6350 Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. USA literally funds the genocide in Yemen.
@@jacoblawton6350 many islamic countries
Israel, SaudiâŠ
Kazakhstan did originally join the AFC, but switched to UEFA c. 2004
Their switch was clearly politically motivated,Kazakhstan are European puppets States anything Russia does they follow suit the same as Turkey which most of its land is in Asia they decided to instead join the UEFA as they are a part of their membership in the European union. Not because the UEFA is competitive đđ .
Many euros are confused and think Russia would make the World Cup easy in the Asian Confederation is not entirely accurate. Fact is Kazakhstan was never given the opportunity to compete in the European Championship or World Cup qualifiers as they are not seen as traditional European nations. As for Russia they have been banned to compete, in any international competition they've competed in the World Cup before and have Won European Championships so they would be a competitive team no matter what Confederation. Not because they can't compete at the level of European national teams.
For euros to think the UEFA or European Confederation in football is much harder is based on old stereotype of European superiority đ they can't stand seen an Asian team make it into the world cup like South Korea did in 2002 and the Euros made all kinds of excuses of accusations. Fact is Asia is catching up to the West in team sports. Russian joining the AFC would make it even harder and more competitive. Fyi The weakest football confederation is in Africa and North America and Oceania but nobody mentions this fact lol.
Been following you guys for a while, I find it funny how although the topic was about Russia. The occupied land of Palestine was used as an example with no mention of their crimes and reasons as to why many countries wonât play against them. Be transparent and fair, Russia have the flaws and so do they.
Double standards smh.
Thatâs western propaganda, âitâs only bad when it doesnât serve our interests.â
You never talk about Them Boys. These Westerners are a bunch of hypocrites thats all.
Palestine is a terrorist state, lucky we donât nuke that place.
Israel should be banned from football for invade palestina, but the white folks just ignore that invasion
It will never not be astonishing to me that in the age of Saudi Arabia tapping up Messi and Ronaldo, and buying Newcastle, while acting like Russian athletes shouldnât even be allowed to exist in their counties.
Western Geopolitics, baby. Never gets old
Ok tankie.
â@@alhollywood6486 exactly its not like Saudi Arabia has been responsible for one of the worst humanitarian crisis this century, oh wait they are and fifa did nothing when they've been bombing Yemen, or when America invaded Iraq, fifa did nothing
@@alhollywood6486 Russia isn't communist and hasn't been for more than 30 years.
@@belhariry They were never communist. Just authoritarian for like, I dunno, ever? Tankies aren't commies, just Western shitbirds who love authoritarianism.
Hmm,interesting developments. Thanks for the heads up,love this channel.
so when is USMNT gonna be banned. ?
Russia is geographically 70% North Asian via Siberia so it would make sense for them to join.
Geographically in size yes, quite literally everything else no.
I doubt AFC members South Korea, Japan and Australia would allow Russia to join. Others like Philippines may be against it too. And even if Russia gets to the AFC FiFa must approve it and UEFA members still have a strong voice there and finally if Russia qualifies for the World Cup 2026 US and Canada could refuse to accept them. Any way I look at it I donât see it happening.
Please explain why Russia is banned from playing football again
@@faiyez have you watched any news at all? If you need me to expalin it then should you be commenting at all?
@@davidzolcer4848 Yeah I've kept up with the news.
Again, there's no good reason for Russia to be football specifically.
@@faiyez Would you be willing to say it straight to the faces of Ukrainian footballers?
@@davidzolcer4848 Absolutely. I will tell them any day. Considering that there also footballers who continue to play for Syria, Yemen or Iraq despite the circumstances.
football is now more of politics than the proper game itself
The fewest tournaments it didn't got political got the quality lowered.
It was always like this
Yup, now you see pride flags everywhereâŠ
Always has been
The World's Game
All this canceling of Russia has not only created more hatred but the death of good sportsmanship. Politics created this. Politics should have never been brought in to football.
War isn't politics. You're very confused. No country involved in an aggression against another should be allowed to compete. The decision is correct.
@@ranndino your emotions and feelings are talking. I will be honest with you, with the history between these two countries and NATO, if I was in Russia's place I would have done the same. It's only emotional wrecks like you people who just jump on the bandwagon and want to cancel someone or some country without fully understanding what is going on or what caused it. It's people like you who make living in this world unbearable. It's sad that many African countries know global history more than you people in the west. We were practically forced to study European history, I thought it was useless at one time but now am glad I did. That is the reason as to why very many African states can't cut off Russia, all because we studied the history so that we do not repeat what ever mistakes that caused these wars. Dont be lazy study European history ie How and why NATO was formed, how Russia became Russia and the relationship between NATO and Russia. If you dont want to do that. You better not embarrass yourself next time by commenting here. POLITICS SHOULD NEVER BE IN SPORTS. SPORTS SHOULD UNITED PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES. THATS WHY WE HAVE THE WORLD CUP. IF YOU CUT OFF SOME COUNTRIES BECAUSE YOU DONT UNDERSTAND BASIC HISTORY, THEN YOU ARE USELESS
@@ranndino Btw. NATO aka USA are the aggressors in this one. Not Russia.
â@@ranndino "War isn't politics" Then what is? Honestly answer this: What is politics according to you?
Sports in general is war without blood. That's all. Politics would ever be involves in one factor or another.
Even if it's a bad marketing idea for the asia confederation to the west, for them is a big win. The question is if FIFA will accept Russia in the 2026 world cup. ( let's see how much money Russia will pay FIFA for it)
They have to
It doesn't matter what money Russia offers. Until they got out of Ukraine they won't be playing in any FIFA competitions.
Were the US or British athletes suspended back in 2003?
such a straightfoward sport yet so complicated too
Why do the player's have to be punished for what their government did, the us never got suspended for what they did in the middle east
This is probably the most substantial Football-Channel at the moment. I don't watch every video but all of them are interesting
HITC Sevens is also similar. It has listicles, but most videos are about heavier topics in the background of football like politics, history and economics.
Going back to OFC, could New Zealand pick up stick, and head to AFC, just as Australia did? Could the OFC merge with the AFC?
Why does ofc even exist
@@nabster9253 geography
It should merge but will probably never happen sadly
Yeah it's definitely should be merged. OFC are too weak to be standalone association, and I think it could have interesting qualifications like NA where all mediocre team clashing each other first before join the big group. I would like to see Vanuatu vs Bhutan or Solomon vs Nepal.
From 2026 Oceania get a direct qualification spot to the men's world cup, so they're less likely to want to move.
But it would be good to see New Zealand playing more regularly against teams like China and Australia.
Exceptional video, thank you!
Hm, great video. I will now take a look at the CZcams comments for more thought provoking discussion of wider geopolitics through the use of sports.
Vietnamese here. It would be very interesting to see Russia competing in the Asian Cup. Their participation will increase the competitiveness of the tournament, which has long been dominated by teams like Japan, Australia, or Iran. It would also give us, the Vietnamese team, a chance to play against a superior team from Europe (we don't often get invited to play friendlies against European teams). And just imagine an Asian Cup being held in Russia, in January/February (the normal tournament timeframe).
As for politics, do you really Asians (except Japan, South Korea, Australia) care that much? From our view, the war is strictly a problem between Russia and the West, not a problem for Asia.
Then you have no morals. I live in Asia and there are many people who care what happens in that war.....
@@MichaelGGarry Hey where were your morals when US and the UK illegally invaded irak in 2003 and then participated in the 2004 world cup? Ah westeners, never change hahaha.
@@MichaelGGarry did u care about people dying in Africa or middle east? for u its just somewhere there... like a movie (ps history of mankind built on war)
@@MichaelGGarry Asien obviously care but not really. I don't know where you live but where I live, the people here generally see it as a distant conflict and want nothing to do with it. So being politically petty and banning everything Russia is not something that they would care.
@@obsida Of course I do, which is why I follow events in those places. But this discussion was about Russia....
Football doesn't do politics they said
only the ones they support
It's not 'politics'. The invasion and war of conquest, especially in Europe is universally seen as something competely unacceptable. So no 'politics' here, just basic morals.
@@MetalGearyaTV there is was in Yemen ...there was war in Iraq as well unrest in Libya....did ever any of this countries that where involved subjected to this strong reactions....morals are universal and shouldn't be subjective
@@blesz04 These are mostly civil wars, this has nothing to do with the war of conquest, border-breaking, and the most unacceptable breach of internationation law in Europe since 1939.
@@MetalGearyaTV I don't know where u get your news.....all this wars are about regime change which sound the same to me
Distracted by the three large bodies of water we've supposedly gained in the middle of Australia.
I think Lake Eyre fills up once every hundred years or so
?
Guantanamo Bay is still open but the US can host the WC in 2026, that's just the way it is
Or how they helped Saudi Arabia commit one of the worst humanitarian crisis this century in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemen and they where at the world cup this year
Hardly comparable
Are you serious? đł
Keep politics out of sports until itâs the politics they support lol
@@BenjaminKeller The US foreign politics is responsible for millions of deaths through its wars, and some of those wars were illegal under international law. So if FIFA and the west wouldnt be hypocritical, then the US would be banned indeed.
So what happens when teams refuse to play them in the 2026 WC
They would win via forfeit I assume
Nobody will refuse to play them
@@listey Good chance that Australia would refuse to play them given the significant number of sanctions we have against them. Few others would, maybe Japan & South Korea, but the majority of Asia will just turn a blind eye to any negative press they would bring
North Korea were qualified for the 2010 World cup, nobody refused to play them lol
japan will finally win the world cup
I wanted to say a lot about this video, but the best part is talking about Putin being wanted for war crimes by the ICC yet they've never made a video about Bush from the USA being wanted. Neither nation is under ICC jurisdiction btw.
Because he isn't wanted by the ICC, but don't let a fact like that get in the way.
Yes Bush and ISrael are just as awful but that doesn't mean Russia should get a free pass. 3 wrongs does not become a right.
@@NostalgiNorden No worries US and west can get away with anything
it just means people are hypocritical and hold double standards
ââ@@xcidgaf it's just the Anglo Saxons that think they control everything.
I really hope they move to Asia and we never have to see them in any European stadium again regarding club football.
Britain, U.S and France never banned from one tournament. Saudi Arabia participated in WC qualifying and the World Cup itself despite their war crimes in Yemen.
Why should Russia have been banned?
Exactly
Two wrongs does not make a right. regardless of who has been banned in the past, countries currently invading their neighbours shouldn't be allowed to compete.
â@@Rassalcon So does that mean Ukraine should be banned for shelling their own citizens for 9 years?
@@TubeYou138 Cmon you bots are not even trying these days.
@@glebzaitsev6741 Nah this ain't a bot. Nice NPC response though
It's funny how United States of America did crimes against humanity and FIFA is blind about it but is very focal and vocal on what Russia did with Ukraine...
Funny how a sport is run more based on international politics rather than the sport itself
Hey, the USA is important for the world, without the USA, how could we have western influence around the world? Also, the USA can't be punished nor hit with sanctions because it's a world power.
Anyone else up at 2 am đđ
Me
Its 2 pm here brother.
Wassup đ€Łđ€Łđ€Ł
8 am
7 16 am
I love the mayhem. Let me just enjoy it from my bed. Football and chill.
Best of luck to those involved.
You should have an insight into Malmö FF's new coach and new style of play, it's about relationism football. Very interesting topic. I think it can generate quite a lot of viewers also ;)
Sounds cool
@@Ccccc-mi3tr It for sure is!
gaz prom sponsoring the ACL.. superb
Russia Vs USA in 2026 wc in US would be mad and I would love to see that.
Would never happen, even in the rare event that FIFA accepts Russia back in, most nations, especially western ones would refuse to play them.
â@@bullereye111 depends. We're 3 years away. Alot can happen
@@blackmantis3130 Doubt it. As long as Putin is still the leader of Russia theyâll probably not platform them. Even post-war. Only way I see it is if Putin is no longer the leader, and we all know that wont happen in the short term.
@@blackmantis3130 Yup, could be Trump's America, and Trump is no friend of the EU nor Ukraine. The US could do a 360 flip, and no longer support Ukraine, Trump would mainly push for peace negotiations.
ââ@@bullereye111Anyone who refuses should lose by default. That's what should have happened in the UEFA qualifiers.
How much times USA was banned in the sports and cultural events for their "bringing democracy" in Guaetemala, Syria, Iraq, Afganistan, Yugoslavia, Cuba, Vietnam.... ?
Stop with your hipocrisy.
Cuba? Still communists to this day
Well even if they can make it out of AFC qualifiers, their problem is again with FIFA. Asian Cup is fun though, if that's what they're into.
I'm from an asian country where one of the ally country of the West committed genocide with the weapons supplied by the US and the collective west. When this issue was brought into question in UN, only country that supported us was Soviet Union. After 50 years US finally passed a bipartisan resolution recognising the genocide. Don't you think after that every country, I'm assuming including yours, that helped that genocide happen should be banned from the world football. But rules work different for you guys, right?
Vietnam?
@@ayushanjay4983 As a resident of Cambodia, I'm not a big fan of historical grudges. Current genocide, however...
Tbh , the onle us Ally who had done severe warcrimes in Asia is Pakistan , rest all are done by big Sam himself
Yep. Deal with it.
Modern world is run by the " West". They are setting the rules.
I think Russia will try to stay in UEFA for a while, but, there is a limit. If Putin demands Russia to finally leave Europe for good, it's likely that no European nation will miss Russia. And for Asia, AFC will have to decide that Russia can't be drawn with Japan, Australia, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and Singapore (South Korea, while supporting the West, does not join sanctions).
Still, Russia joining AFC can present possible AFC turn from other countries like Turkey and Kazakhstan, since both are now being viewed by Europe as authoritarian regimes. As UEFA deepens the human rights law as a condition, Turkey and Kazakhstan are pivoting their football to Asia.
@Iranian Pride Here is my explanation. Before the UEFA Euro 2024 bid, UEFA confirmed that in order to win the rights to host a tournament, the bidder must follow criteria of human rights, which could be seen as the first step toward making the bidders to become democratic. This was a baby step, but the impact was relevant: Turkey lost the bid to Germany, partly because of the authoritarian regime of Erdogan.
Turkey has announced that it want to host European Championship again and has gone consecutively since 2008, but failed all the time. People tend to blame Europe's toxic relations with Muslims, but you forget that the reason is never about Islam, it is about authoritarianism of the Turkish government. We have Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia as Muslim majority members of UEFA and they are still democracies. Georgia, Poland and Ukraine have indigenous Muslims and they are still democracies.
However, for the Turks and Kazakhs, the new requirement means diminishing further opportunities to host football events. Their countries are now recognised as authoritarian states, meaning any chance to host European Championships will be severely limited. And UEFA's actions only demonstrates that Europe will go further to enhance the democratic codes, something definitely dictatorships like in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey will not respect.
But to which extent they want to pivot to Asia? This is depending on circumstances. Turkey will host the UEFA Champions League Final in 2023, so the country is unwilling to move away to the AFC. Still, it has repaired ties with autocratic regimes in Asia, such as Pakistan, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Kazakhstan, however, has gone further. The Kazakhs have recently sent players to play in top leagues of China and Western Asia, in addition, Kazakhstan also sent youth teams to play with Central Asian nations and even Russia. Kazakhstan also played the most recent friendly with the UAE in November last year. From what I remembered among Kazakhstani football authorities, they are reconsidering the possibility to move back to AFC if UEFA's code continues to enhance at the disadvantage of Kazakhstan.
So yeah, by now, I don't see them going back to AFC, at least for a while. But if Russia joined the AFC, Kazakhstan would be the first to follow. Actually, Kazakhstan is not seen as European, but Asian. Turkey, well, if Erdogan still clinches on with power, Turkey will stray further and further from Europe, will become less likely to be allowed to host football tournaments of UEFA, which may trigger their decision to move to AFC. Erdogan is also quite popular in Kazakhstan here as well, due to Turkey and Kazakhstan share a common ancestry, so I think it may also impact Kazakhstan, too.
Kool, I am supporting expelling Russia and even Kazakhstan from UEFA. Totalitarian nations are not welcomed in UEFA.
â@@luishernandezblonde Every EU member:
human rights is not the reason behind that,, if it would be, they wouldnt go to the USA world cup, they would even ban theirselves
@@ernestorobles8401 As I mentioned in my answer, human rights condition was only a baby step, implemented only following the UEFA Euro 2016 and began to function after Euro 2020. But that also means more and more requirements and UEFA seemingly wants to advance further. By making democratic idea a thing in football organisation, Europe is sending a chilling message to authoritarian members: reform or be rejected.
While Turkey basically has modern infrastructures to host the European Football Championship, the country is constantly rejected because of Erdogan's growing abuse of football. He has meddled in Turkish football by cancelling the name of Hakan Sukur, a legend of the Turkish national team. He placed his own family members in charge of the TFF and turned it into an Erdoganist conglomerate of corruption. He turned clubs in Turkey into his business. Such kind of move was never done even by somewhat partial authoritarian nations like Hungary or Poland, nor even Viktor Orban sought to cancel Hungarian legends today like Adam Szalai or Gabor Kiraly. No one in UEFA can accept a member cancelling a legend of its own national team, clubs with political ties or a dictator takeover in such a ruthless way like that, except for Putin, Aliyev or Tokayev.
Unsurprisingly, if giving Turkey today the rights to host European Championship, it will be like saying that Erdogan is a legitimate leader, whereas he was elected in a very rigged, Putinist-style election. Disqualifying Russia from both World Cup 2022 and Euro 2024 (Russia may also be banned from World Cup 2026) was seen as an example of how UEFA will act if a dictator uses football for politics.
But in Erdogan's mind, this is Turkophobia of UEFA, a justification for Turkey's increasing divorce from Europe. And this is also applied to Kazakhstan nowadays. Kazakhstan is also of the same Turkic branch like Turkey, and many Kazakhs possess a strong pro-Erdogan sentiment. While Kazakhstan's joining the UEFA in 2002 was hailed as a major progress of this Central Asian country, the feeling of their "big brother" Turkey being discriminated is ultimately fuelling Kazakhstan's recent Asian pivot due to the sense of "Turkophobia". The fact that Kazakhstan is UEFA's first member after Belarus to have a national team to play Russia said everything about it. So if Kazakhstan and Turkey were to follow Russia joining AFC, I don't think Europe will miss them.
Is it just me or does your map lack new Zealand @3:19 ?
Need sri Lankan and Russian football back
07:13
That is the former afghan flag
Might have thought Australia, Japan and South Korea wont stand for it...probably end up with a Pacific federation suceeding from the larger Asia one
Lol the US vassals
@@skp8748 those vassals at least have more powerful economy and military than Russia, at least đ Also, better at football.
@@robo.5550 lol keep dreaming.
Not vassals, lapdogs
@@robo.5550 Russia can nuke all 3 of those US cumbuckets out of existence in 30 minutes.
I honestly dont want russia to join AFC because russian clubs always have one of the best atmospheres in the ucl and the national team imo is just above the top teams from Asia
oh... new intro. I like it a lot. :)
The sanction from UEFA & FIFA is a disgrace. You dont mix politics and sports otherwise you should have thrown Amercia out and sanctioned them when they illegaly invaded Iraq but i guess the current politicians either have memory loss or play by other rules when its a western country that invades
These organisation are political, why did Qatar get the world cup, why might Saudi get awarded one, why did Russia have a World Cup and a Champions League final? Why is the forcer president mired in corruption charges? and why is not one standing against the current leaders? Why was Gazprom the sponsor of the Champions League?
It's impossible to keep politics out of football when they are run by organisations like FIFA and UEFA. The simple fact is western countries used their political power in the Russia case to get them banned, and no one has the political power to get USA, western Europe etc banned. In the same way no one is banning Saudi for the war in Yemen.
You have to mix sport and politics not doing so conceds the space to people who will use it for their own politics like Russia and Qatar did, are doing and will continue to do.
Glad to hear sensible people. Gives me hope for humanity. Got tired of all those brainwashed zombies
The move to Asia makes a lot of sense. Unlike in Europe, and with the exception of Israel, politics are really not that important in AFC tournaments. Just look at how China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau all compete together in Asia with no problems.
You just said complete nonsense.
Yes football is not that much popular in asia only few cares about it
â@@Numero6dl no you did
China literally forced Taiwan to call themselves Chinese Taipei so idk what you are talking about.
China's relations with Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are totally different. Don't make it like if China is a saint. It's just China being smarter.
what's the background music called??
"hundreds of thousands of lives" according to whom?
Australia contributed a half position in the WC to the Asian Confederation.
That is why there is a play off position available.
What will Russia offer?
Will UEFA allow Russia to take a half of a position from the European allocation?
Just sounds like a benefit to Europe and no consideration to anyone else given.
Russia will offer more quality and credibility to AFC. More sponsorship too.
The play off was there before Australia joined, it was in 2006 qualifiers and 1998
@@gordon1545 I see you know nothing about the Confederation.
At least you didn't let your lack of knowledge stop you talking with authority. That is confidence - unfounded - but confidence.
@@you6795 You can look up the information you are attempting to dispute.
I suggest you do that.
@@yt.personal.identification you brought the false information, where is your proof?
The Russia ban was immature and reactive.
It was overdue, ruzzianpig
Your map missed New Zealand.
Can u talk about intertoto cup cheers
I find it staggering that after the US Military murdered 1 million Iraqi's, turned Afghanistan, Libya and Syria into unliveable hellholes and still US teams and sportsmen and sportswomen never got banned from anything. They all should have been banned from the 04 and 08 Olympics and banned from FIFA World cups. Politics has no place in Football. Russia is better off without the mafia crooks in UEFA and should join AFC. I would love to see them qualify for the 26' WC and play a game in the New York Area.
To be fair, Afghanistan has always been a hole (ask Russia), Libya exported terrorism, and Syria is a Russian problem not the US. Regardless, âwhat aboutâ is the argument you use when you know youâre doing something wrong.
@@ThreeRunHomer So murdering 1 Million Iraqi's is ok? US Sports teams got a free pass and that was shameful
@@mickser101 as I said, âwhat aboutâ is what you say when you know youâre doing something wrong.
Russia won't join AFC. Plain and simple. Japan, South Korea and Australia are the most influential countries in Asia and they will simply block the move.
You're comparing sth that is not even remotely comparable. Iraq was a regional aggressor which waged war against its'neighbors multiple times over the 20th century, Libyan dictator Qaddafi was a sponsor of terrorism, Afghanistan was always as you said a "hellhole" and the US actually had reason to invade it after 9/11, and don't even talk about Syria. Russia bombed Syrian cities to the ground in order to keep its'ally Assad in power. The invasion of Ukraine also was completely unprovoked, Ukraine didn't pose any threat to Russia or neighboring countries.
The treatment and sanctions are so so unfair on Russian athletes
Nope, ruzzian Vatnik. Quite the opposite
@@antekovac5644 Should American athletes have been banned after the illegal invasion of Iraq?
And the war is not unfair to Ukrainian footballers who died in combat or died of bombing or had their homes destroyed or whose families and friends died in war?
@@AM2K2 no
@@AM2K2 Yes, they should have been banned from any type of events. Especially because pricks were proudly promoting the invasion on their sport shows.
They shouldn't have to "creep" into anything. If France and the US haven't been ostracized for their destruction of countries over the last 20 years, then Russia shouldn't either.
Been asking the same thing for years now.. Will Russia go AFC?
Why punish athletes for the act of the government?
Excellent video, have to say that first of all. I think the parallels with Israel are as strong as you highlight and FIFA will have a hard time arguing *why* if they deny Russia the same treatment. I'm not condoning the Russia-Ukraine war (in the slightest,) however Israel's continued, decades-long genocide of Palestinians continues to get a pass on the sporting front. Sure, Ukraine has powerful friends while Palestine has powerful enemies, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Cope harder, ruzzian Mongol Vatnik
Russia is flattening entire cities with artillery, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Israel launches small scale retaliatory strikes against HAMAS, a recognised terrorist organisation and de facto government of Gaza. There is no comparison here.
Don't compare Ukraine and Palestine. We , Ukrainians, are not acting like terrorists. Russia has been doing it since 2014.
@@hannahr5037 Lol you have been acting that way since 2014. The only thing Ukraine had to do was to respect the language and traditions of the ethnic russian in the Donbass Region. But your polititians clearly started to say they were not ukranians. Same with the etching hungarians. That was a big mistake
Genocide of Palestinians đ
Good.
The Central Asian Cup sounds wild đ
tbh I wouldn't be against it. I mean the athletes are not to blame for the war. their run at the 2018 world cup was pretty cool to watch and they have a number of clubs such as zenit, spartak or krasnodar that did well in european competitions in the past
All these clubs u mentioned are connected with bliody money and russian governments, most of russian sportsmen support war and only few stood up for ukraine.
I think we xan allow them to play, but they have to say that they against war and outin
â@@Bazovkin i mean it's not that easy, they have family and they won't put their family in danger by against putin
@@bagustriwidiyanto the problem is but making these choce they put whole other country in danger and this is their responsibility, because it was ojay for them to openly suppirt putin before war and vote for him, as they did.
@@Bazovkin then why are newcastle, city, psg allowed to roam free
@@declang21 if u see this as a problem u should talk loudly about this, i talk about what i see as a problem.
I don't really like all these dictatorship, as i did nt like Quatar WC. We really should protect world from this gangsters.
Australia and new zealand should have applied to join UEFA imo but is what it is it is would be interesting to see if Russia is allowed into qualifiers for the world cup USA-MEX-CAN 2026 at all idk if russia will but hypothetically if they were allowed into qualifiers and qualified and the war has not ended or subsumed FIFA would be in precarious situation.
FIFA can kick them out like Yugoslavia but the US Canada and Mexico have to let them in
Damn. 109 countries and a football federation, that's impressive!
Even a friendly game requires a fixing⊠says a lot about the two countries đ
As long as England, Israel, China and Saudi Arabia are in international football, I have absolutely no issues with Russia playing.
Cope harder, ruzzianPig
@@rokhorvat6660 great rebuttal. Really showed him the error of his ways.
@@dan5974 ruzzian Mongols feeling butthurt
Who is England invading currently?
@@nijjijjion204 they were illegally invading two separate countries the last 20 years.
Russia should join AFC. As Asian football is rising crazily because of Saudi money, Russia has good future in AFC.
Imagine Russian clubs playing in the AFC Champions League only to watch these Saudi superteams humiliate them lmao
Interesting for Tifo Football to talk about Russia and Politic đđđđđđ
Football unites us. Politricks in football divides us.
Youâll get national teams simply doing what Poland have done and refusing to play against them if they get to the WC.Or US officials could refuse to admit the Russian squad to the country.
Anyone refusing to play Russia at a World Cup would be expelled from the tournament. Maybe for a country like Poland that would be worth it, but how many other countries would give up their World Cup dreams just to avoid facing Russia? I'm not so sure.
â@@gordon1545 in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, Poland was set to play Russia in world cup qualifiying play-offs, they simply refused saying "we're not going to play Russia and we're ready to be disqualified but that is our position", they were quickly joined by Sweden and Czech Republic who were also in Russia's group. If all of these three automatically withdrawn from the competition, Russia would automatically qualify for the world cup but UEFA and Fifa quickly got that this would be a scandal considering that Russia was literally becoming a pariah state and disqualified Russia.
A lot of countries made a whole lot of noise about boycotting the Qatar world cup, yet ultimately the only ones who actually *did* had little hopes of getting there in the first place.
â@@gordon1545 They wouldn't be expelled. The whole thing is a moot point since Russia won't be allowed to play until they withdraw from Ukraine and agree to pay reparations.
â@@robertking4645 That was UEFA. I had lower expectations of the morality of FIFA, but you're probably right that even FIFA wouldn't let them into the World Cup in 2026. I wonder how long their resolve will last though - almost every UEFA member is a democracy, but that's not true of FIFA.
7:23 Must have been awkward for Mohammed Bin Salman watching his country lose 5-0 next to the President of the players beating them.
7:13 I think the Kyrgyzstan flag is upside down
Not sure why US in not banned after ao much of killings .... Hypocrisy at its best
because they are the only "good guys" that can do it.
nice english bot
@@qwertyuiop123453993 Who is an English bot?
â@@qwertyuiop123453993 bot calling others bot đ
@@Anonymous-kd2yy cte
Football is out of politics, they said....
It's not 'politics'. The invasion and war of conquest, especially in Europe, is universally seen as something competely unacceptable. So no 'politics' here, just basic morals.
@@MetalGearyaTV What are you talking about? Politics highly involved in it so as it is involved in everything nowadays
@@younexxxt I said that since the war of conquest is universally seen as something immoral and unacceptable, it's not 'politics' that's involved here. Politics is something that divides people, while morals are universal, and unite us all, right? If somebody could make a clear-cut case for Russia being on the right side, there wouldn't be any need for sanctions. Russia would be allowed to do what it's doing without any reprisals. But most people agree the invasion is a very bad thing. Why, for example, was apartheid South Africa removed from international sports? Is it because of 'politics'? No. It's because almost everyone sees apartheid as something wrong and unacceptable. So the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
@@younexxxt So no, sports are still beyond 'politics'.
@@MetalGearyaTV sports are under politics, it is obvious, how many examples of that we have seen of fifa and uefa saying that sports are out of politics
Well the huge few nations have gotten involved so why not
Great video! Just a small nitpick though - Kyrgyzstan's flag at 7:06 is upside down đ
We need the next Arshavin
As long as the next Arshavin is not invading anyone's land/country
â@@ue7811 so the last one did?))))
nah u need to leave Ukraine alone
â@@ue7811 so not american, russian, israeli, arabian or brit, got it.
@@Arejen03 you heard him guys, let Ukraine be)))
If China is part of the AFC then why not Russia. Saudi Arabia has oil money and most of the Arab countries do business with them. Wouldn't surprise anyone I don't think but they still won't be eligible to qualify for the World Cup anytime soon.
Because the rulers of Russia are Europeans and the vast majority of their population is west of the Urals
All Russia will have to do is throw a couple of million at FIFA and Infantino and theyâll be welcome back with open arms.
This is FIFA weâre talking about.
I don't like Russia, but i would have no objection them joining AFC. They could benefit my country (Indonesia) in long run.
I just think nobody cares about Russia at this point
People are just done with countries that are led by fascist dictators I think.
I think we need to mention also about the status of Kazakhstan, the Central Asian nation that has been UEFA member since 2002. One of the most fascinating fact I learned was Kazakhstan only got admitted to UEFA because of personal Russian intervention, previously UEFA attempted to reject Kazakhstan membership quest due to Kazakhstan "not capable enough".
That means if Russia decided to abandon UEFA, that will leave Kazakhstan in limbo. A Russia in AFC means Kazakhstan is likely to be booted back to AFC and Europe is happy to do so, Kazakhstan joined because of Russia's blessings. Recent UEFA guideline, demanding all members of UEFA family to incorporate human rights and various forms of democratic rule, meaning Kazakhstan, one of the authoritarian regimes inside UEFA, unlikely to be allowed hosting rights unless if this is club tournaments. And to demonstrate, UEFA bid for Euro 2024 was won by Germany due to Turkey's human rights repression.
That's why so many Kazakhs are now trying to find the way to survive in UEFA, at least, by showing their Euro 2024 forms currently. But, considering Kazakhstan's manager is a Russian national, and Kazakhstan being the first UEFA member (outside Belarus) to play with Russia (albeit at youth level) since the invasion, plus recent human rights guideline, I think Kazakhstan's UEFA future will be dark and bleak.
La mayor parte del mundo? Solo occidente y pocos paĂses tienen problemas con Rusia
Hardly going to help because the UEFA teams and North American teams will all refuse to play against them at the World Cup anyway. I mean Ukraine might qualify.
Japana and South Korea would never let this happen
It's amazing how India, which has increased trade with Russia post invasion has escaped scrutiny. Israel too diplomatically has been sitting on the fence.
@@shakiMiki Turkey despite being in NATO has been doing heavy trade with Russia.
â@@shakiMiki or the fact they're actively committing war crimes. That's a bit worse in my books.
â@@shakiMiki why do you think india escaped scrunity? India is an independent nation they can make their own decisions which are best for them
â@@MaulwurfBuddelflink why
Russia and Putin are by no means without guilt in this conflict, but I don't understand why Russia is constantly made out to be the bad guy in all of this. The UK/America and the West have waged countless wars that displaced millions and resulted in mass casualties and generational destruction. None received sanctions, or their political leaders made to stand in front of the ICC. Ask yourself this, would the USA ever allow Russian military/troops to camp outside the borders of the USA (Mexico/Canada)? This notion would be unthinkable, so why, after the history that occurred in Europe, has NATO been allowed to expand far into the eastern block? While we are on this topic, how is Isreal any different in this scenario? An apartheid state gets unequivocal backing from its Western allies and has never been sanctioned, in fact, as this video suggests, welcomed into EUFA. Do ppl seriously not see the double standards at play here???
The West are also bad guys (though they like to pretend they're good guys) but Putin arrest warrant relates to the kidnapping of children (something along those lines anyway. You can double-check if you want), which's something the US didn't do in Iraq. There's also a difference in that the US didn't try to take over Iraq & that Iraq had a brutal dictator in charge (of course, in other cases, the US (as well as other Western countries) has enabled brutal dictators).
But are there double-standards? Absolutely, and it's true that Western countries can often get away with war crimes that other countries probably couldn't. The silver lining's that these Western countries are democracies, which at least means that voters can effect some political accountability for these actions. There's also usually a (fairly) free press, which makes reporting on the actions of Western governments less opaque.
Friendly with Indonesia incoming
Uzbekistan Would Have Been Part Of UEFA
It Would Have Been Fun Seeing Uzbekistan Qualify For The Euros
You offended Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Jesus Christ. You shouldn't be talking.