FIFA clears the way for the Russian youth team to participate in the competition

More than four years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIFA indicated on Thursday that it was paving the way for Russia to participate in an international youth competition.

Announcing the under-15s ‘World Cup and Festival’ in Azerbaijan from October 22 to 31, world football’s governing body said it would be open to all.

Although Russian national teams and clubs have been banned from international competitions since 2022, FIFA has never suspended membership of the Russian Football Federation.

A FIFA spokesperson would not mention Russia directly during his conversation AFP but confirmed that the tournament is “open to all FIFA member associations” and noted that the competition format and details of the participants would be announced later.

Russia immediately interpreted the statement as an invitation to return.

“We welcome FIFA’s decision to allow the Russian national team to participate in the World Cup and the FIFA U-15 Festival, which will be held in Azerbaijan in October 2026. This is an important step towards returning Russian teams to international sport,” Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev wrote on social media.

The move appears to be part of a gradual easing of restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes.

In May, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended lifting restrictions on Belarusian athletes – allowing them to compete and participate in team sports under their national flag and anthem – while recommending that restrictions on Russian athletes remain in place.

After being banned in February 2022, Russian athletes were reinstated under a neutral flag in March 2023, subject to specific conditions: they could only compete in individual events, they had not publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine, and they had no ties to the Russian military or security services.

Several international sports federations – including gymnastics, judo and swimming – have gone further, allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags and anthems.

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Last December, a summit meeting of the IOC and representatives of international sports federations recommended that athletes from both countries be reinstated, complete with their national anthems and flags.

On Wednesday, the IOC amended the Olympic charter on neutrality, a move interpreted by some observers as a way to lift the ban on Russia.

In 2023, UEFA made a first attempt to reintegrate Russian youth teams into European football competitions – without flags, anthems or official kits to avoid being ‘punished’ for ‘actions for which only adults are responsible’.

It abandoned the plan due to boycott threats from Ukraine, England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Romania.

Published on June 25, 2026