Russian football retains FIFA voting power as Infantino faces opposition over reform plans

Russia will retain its voting rights at FIFA meetings, allowing representatives of the Russian Football Union (RFU) to take part in the election of the organisation’s next president.

The decision could prove significant for Gianni Infantino, who is seeking to extend his presidency until 2027 despite mounting criticism. The FIFA president has faced particular opposition over proposals to sell private investors a stake in some of the governing body’s competitions.

Russia has been excluded from European club competitions, including the Champions League and Europa League, since FIFA and UEFA joined the sanctions imposed after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian national teams are also barred from the World Cup and European Championship.

However, Russia’s membership of FIFA was never formally withdrawn. As a result, the RFU remains entitled to attend the FIFA Congress and vote in presidential elections, even though its teams cannot compete in major international tournaments.

The position marks the effective limit of FIFA’s sporting sanctions against Russia. Earlier, investigative platform Follow the Money reported that FIFA had paid Russian clubs to release players for national-team duty, despite the owners of those clubs appearing on economic sanctions lists maintained by Europe, the United States and Switzerland. FIFA’s headquarters are in Switzerland.

FIFA had initially favoured a less severe response to Russia. The governing body had considered allowing the country to enter World Cup qualifying under a different name and play its matches at neutral venues.

That proposal was abandoned after strong opposition from a number of European football associations. Those federations persuaded FIFA to remove Russia entirely from its competitions instead.

Infantino has previously argued against excluding national associations because of the actions of their governments. Earlier this year, he pressed for Russia’s sporting boycott to be lifted, amid calls for Israel to face a similar measure over the war in Gaza.

“We must do it,” Infantino told Sky News at the time.

“This ban has achieved nothing; it has only created more frustration and hatred. In reality, we should never exclude a country from football because of the actions of its political leaders.”

It is not yet clear whether Russia’s voting status will benefit Infantino’s bid to remain in office. The RFU joined a UEFA statement in which all 55 member associations said they were unanimously opposed to Infantino’s proposal to sell a stake in FIFA competitions. The statement also threatened boycotts of World Cups.

Despite signing the declaration, the RFU has not publicly stated whether it supports Infantino’s re-election. The union declined to confirm to The Athletic whether it would vote for him.

Relations between Infantino and Russia have included a period of close cooperation. Russia hosted the World Cup in 2018, and the following year Infantino was awarded the Order of Friendship by President Vladimir Putin.

FIFA declined to comment on The Athletic’s report.