FIFA allows overseas players to leave Russian clubs ‘without consequences’

FIFA, the top football governing body, said on Monday that international players and coaches based in Russia will be permitted to leave their clubs. The deadline for the decision has been set for June 30, 2022.

The news comes as multiple sporting bodies have taken steps to isolate Russia from the global playground. The International Olympic Committee ruled earlier this month that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be permitted to participate in its events.

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Football clubs in other countries would be provided with the option to sign players who leave Russian and Ukrainian clubs outside the normal transfer window periods.

Ukraine’s league has been suspended since war engulfed the country, and its players are also allowed to temporarily leave until June 30, according to reports from Associated Press.

“Foreign players and coaches will have the right to unilaterally suspend their employment contracts until the end of the season in Russia”, FIFA said in a statement on Monday.

The statement added, “Players and coaches will be considered ‘out of contract’ until 30 June 2022 and will therefore be at liberty to sign a contract with another club without facing consequences of any kind”, according to reports from AFP.

After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, FIFA suspended the country’s teams from international soccer games last week but has yet to suspend its soccer federation or officials.

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But the umbrella organization representing European leagues has already expelled Russia’s top leagues as members.

FIFPRO — a representative organisation of football players– said that it was “essential that UEFA and FIFA widen professional football’s response to the war by establishing a fund to support all those in the industry who are affected”, citing the looming uncertainty faced by multiple athletes.