Ukraine’s sports minister has launched a fierce rebuke of FIFA president Gianni Infantino after he suggested world football’s governing body could consider easing its blanket ban on Russian teams.

Russian national sides and clubs were expelled from all FIFA and UEFA competitions in 2022 following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The suspension has kept Russia out of the 2022 World Cup, Euro 2024 and the qualifying process for the 2026 World Cup, and remains one of the most far-reaching sporting sanctions imposed since the war began.

Infantino, however, recently questioned the effectiveness of the ban, arguing it “has not achieved anything” and has “just created more frustration and hatred.” He floated the idea that allowing Russian children to play football elsewhere in Europe could help reduce tensions, framing sport as a bridge rather than a barrier.

Those remarks triggered an immediate backlash in Kyiv. Ukraine’s sports minister, Matvii Bidnyi, condemned Infantino’s stance as “irresponsible” and “infantile,” accusing the FIFA chief of trying to detach football from the brutal reality of the conflict.

Speaking to international media, Bidnyi stressed that while Infantino talks about children playing football, “children are being killed” in Ukraine by Russian attacks. “War is a crime, not politics. It is Russia that politicises sport and uses it to justify aggression,” he said.

Bidnyi backed the Ukrainian Association of Football’s firm opposition to any Russian return to international competition. “As long as Russians continue killing Ukrainians and politicising sport, their flag and national symbols have no place among people who respect values such as justice, integrity and fair play,” he declared.

Infantino’s comments land amid a wider struggle over how global sport should deal with Russia. While FIFA and UEFA’s bans remain in force, Russia has continued to arrange fixtures against non-Western opponents, operating outside the traditional European football framework.

The controversy also revives scrutiny of Infantino’s past ties with Moscow. He received the Russian Order of Friendship from President Vladimir Putin after the 2018 World Cup, hosted by Russia, a relationship that critics say now undermines his neutrality.

Ukraine has broadened its criticism beyond football, denouncing the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to readmit athletes from Russia and Belarus. Kyiv’s Paralympic officials said that move effectively allowed the two countries to parade “flags drenched in blood” on the world stage.