Daniel Wolfram
New Zealand refuses to play Russia in the world of Futsal. This forfeit is a protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and their continuous participation in various Futsal tournaments.
A major scandal just broke out in one of the lesser known sports.
The futsal world made headlines when one of the national teams refused to play another in a major competition.
This contentious futsal saga all stems from the Russia-Ukraine war.
A loud forfeit
The New Zealand national futsal squad officially forfeited their scheduled game against Russia at the Continental Futsal Championship in Thailand.
Administrators had accepted the tournament invitation back in April. At that time, organizers had not yet confirmed the final list of competing nations, according to New Zealand Football.
“New Zealand Football elected not to play Russia due to their invasion of Ukraine and the fact they remain banned from participating in international FIFA competitions,” the sporting body stated.
Making a statement
The team made their intentions clear even before leaving home.
When the squad posted their upcoming match schedule on social media, they completely left out the fixture against the Russian side to take a stand against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Local tournament organizers eventually confirmed the official forfeit online.
A Monday update on the Thailand Futsal Facebook page noted that New Zealand had “withdrawn from the match against the Russian national team,” giving the Russian side an automatic 3-0 default victory.
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FIFA softening on Russian involvement
Futsal is officially recognized and governed by FIFA and constitutes its official form of indoor football.
FIFA and UEFA have banned Russian competitive football from all official competitions since 2022 following its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.
However, FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino have begun to soften their stance on Russian football. FIFA has allowed Russia to compete in the inaugural World Cup for kids under the age of 15.
The door has also been opened for the return of both Russian club football and its national teams.
“We have to look at restoring Russian teams,” Infantino told Sky News back in February, adding, “This ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred.”
