the world cup. out of the league. five days after russia invaded ukraine. some extraordinary developments at the intersection of sports and politics. with futbol world and european governing body combines to release a joint statement saying that quote, all russian teams whether national or representative teams or club teams shall be suspended from participation in both competitions until further notice. the statement concluded quote football is fully united here. and in full solidarity with all the people of affected in ukraine. both hope the situation in ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly. so football can be a vector for unity and peace among people. an extraordinary change in fortunes for a country that has become one of the influential in world sport. four years ago they hosted the world cup and olympics in 2014.