By Richard van Poortvliet
April 3 – FIFA has refused to kick Russia out of this year’s World Cup in Brazil, after two American senators asked for the country to be banned due to their role in the unrest in Ukraine.
Dan Coats and Mark Kirk wrote a letter to world football’s governing body in March asking for Russia’s membership to be suspended. They also asked for the country to be kicked out of this year’s World Cup in Brazil as well as losing the right to host the event in four years-time.
In a letter to the two senators, FIFA said participation in the World Cup is based on sporting merit and only a violation of FIFA statutes and regulations could lead to a suspension from a competition.
Coats, who is a Republican senator from Illinois, was deeply disappointed by the ruling saying, “FIFA suggests that outrageous misbehavior by member states does not matter because such decisions are irrelevant to soccer.”
The 70 year-old, who worked as the US ambassador to Germany for four years, cited Yugoslavia’s expulsion from the 1992 European Championships in Denmark as a precedent due to its behavior in the Balkan wars, as this was not connected to the playing field.
In a counter measure, two Russian politicians demanded that the United States should be banned from this year’s tournament in Brazil.
The petition to FIFA was made by state Duma deputies, Aleksandr Sidyakin and Mikhail Markelov.
“It’s an eye for an eye, a ball for a ball. Don’t let the USA take part in the 2014 World Cup! End their membership of FIFA,” Sidyakin wrote on Twitter.
The duo wanted the country barred because of its aggressive actions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, as well as its attempts to encroach on Syria.
The World Cup starts in Brazil on June 12, with both the USA and Russia qualifying for the tournament.
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