December 18 – FIFA has apologised to the Ukrainian FA for displaying a map during the European section of the 2026 World Cup qualifying draw that excluded Russia-occupied Crimea from the country’s territory.
After Ukraine protested about the blunder, FIFA initially acknowledged the error without any contrition.
But its chief member association officer, Elkhan Mammadov, has since written: “We fully understand the delicate sensitivity of this matter and while the incident was unintentional, we sincerely regret any concern it may have caused.”
Mammadov explained that the map was provided by an outside supplier and FIFA was reviewing how to “ensure such oversights do not recur in future”.
Ukraine was one of 54 national teams included in Friday’s draw for European qualifying groups.
Russia, banned from FIFA competitions since the military invasion of Ukraine, has illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. The peninsula was not coloured in as part of Ukrainian territory in a graphic broadcast during the draw event at FIFA headquarters.
Ukraine was drawn into a qualifying group with either France or Croatia, plus Iceland and Azerbaijan.
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