FIFA's Russian player gaffe sparks outrage in Ukraine

The World Football Federation promoted the World Cup with a graphic featuring a Russian soccer player. The Ukrainians quickly addressed FIFA's blunder. "Is this a mistake or a provocation?" wonders one Ukrainian portal.

Russia pays no heed to various sanctions, and Vladimir Putin's troops are still waging war in Ukraine. There's no indication that the hostilities will end anytime soon. As a result, Russian soccer is among those suffering.

Under pressure from many federations, FIFA and UEFA have excluded all Russian teams and clubs from international competitions. We will not see the Russians during the upcoming Euro 2024, and their team will also not participate in this year's Futsal World Cup. This second event involved a significant blunder by the World Federation.

FIFA began promoting the Futsal World Cup, which will take place this fall in Uzbekistan. A graphic appeared on the federation's official website that quickly outraged Ukrainians. It is no surprise, as the tournament was advertised... with a Russian player.

The graphic featured Sergey Abramov, who plays for the Russian national team. "Is this a mistake or a provocation? FIFA published a World Cup poster with a player from the Russian national team," writes sport.24tv.ua portal. Nevertheless, Ukrainians believe that the graphic's creator likely made an error.

"Instead of the emblem on the Russian's jersey, there is the inscription 'Our Boys.' It's quite possible that the designer didn't know which team the player was from," adds the Ukrainian portal.

Ultimately, the major blunder was corrected. Shortly after, a new promotional graphic appeared. The Russian player was replaced by a representative from Portugal.

The Futsal World Cup will be held from September 14 to October 6 in Uzbekistan.