Russian politicians Aleksandr Sidyakin and Mikhail Markelov from the Russian State Duma are demanding FIFA ban the US from the 2014 World Cup. They admitted it was in response to two GOP senators asking FIFA to ban Russia in 2014 and not host the 2018 World Cup.
The politicians cite aggressive actions against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya as well as attempts to encroach on Syria, as reasons for asking for the ban.
“It’s an eye for an eye, a ball for a ball. Don’t let the USA take part in the 2014 World Cup! End their membership of FIFA,” Sidyakin wrote on Twitter.
Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Dan Coats (R-IN) also cited the exclusion of Yugoslavia in the 1994 World Cup in their request to FIFA. Yugoslavia was under severe United Nations sanctions due to genocide and other human rights violations.
Russia is facing sanctions from the European Union and the West because of their aggression towards Ukraine. The US imposed visa bans and stopped all trade and military engagements with Russia while other world leaders decided to place visa bans on lower level officials. Russia President Vladimir Putin and his oligarch friends were not affected.
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