GERRIT Holtmann is set to make his Azkals debut, while Neil Etheridge is set to return for the senior national team at the FAS Tri-Nations Series to be held March 23-29 at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Holtmann and Etheridge are among the big names on the 25-man roster for the competition, the Azkals’ first of the year, along with teams from Singapore and Malaysia.

Holtmann, 26, has four goals for VfL Bochum 1848 in the Bundesliga

Etheridge, playing for Birmingham City in the English Football League Championship, returns to the Azkals after missing the AFF Suzuki Cup and FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers as the competition was not part of the FIFA calendar.

Azkal’s New Guys

Besides Holtmann, defenders Enrique Linares of Spain’s UD San ​​Pedro and Diego Bardanca of Thailand’s Buriram United will make their Azkals debuts.

Striker John Patrick Strauss also makes a comeback after also skipping the Suzuki Cup and Fifa and Asian Cup qualifiers

Goalkeepers Kevin Ray Hansen and Quincy Kammeraad, defenders Amani Aguinaldo, Justin Baas, Carlos De Murga, Daisuke Sato, Oliver Bias, Dennis Villanueva and Jesse Curran, midfielders Harry Foll, Kevin Ingreso, Oskari Kekkonen also participate in the Tri-Nations series. , Manny Ott, Iain Ramsay, Stephan Schrock, Dennis Villanueva and forwards Mark Hartmann, Bienve Maranon, OJ Porteria and Patrick Reichelt.

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The final three FIFA World Cup European places will be settled by the play-offs, with one-match semi-finals taking place on Thursday 24 March and two of the three finals scheduled for Tuesday 29 March.

UEFA.com is preparing for a dramatic week.

Dam regulations

Path A

Scotland vs Ukraine (postponed, date TBC)

Wales vs Austria (8:45 p.m. CET)

Wales have made their presence felt at the last two EUROs, but a burning ambition remains to reach their first World Cup since 1958. A string of Welsh big names including Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs have have never had a chance to show their skills at the finals and Gareth Bale is desperate not to be added to the list, having admitted that these play-offs are probably his last chance to qualify.

“At the start of my career in Wales, the main thing was to play in a major tournament,” said the 32-year-old. “We managed to do that and now to be able to tick everything off the list would be qualifying for a World Cup. That’s huge for us and something that all of us players have dreamed of.” Austria will be equally determined, having not reached the final themselves since 1998.

Did you know?
Wales are unbeaten in their last 16 home games, their last defeat against Denmark in November 2018.

Path B

Sweden vs Czech Republic (8:45 p.m. CET)

Jaroslav Šilhavý’s men bode well as they head to Solna to take on the 2018 World Cup quarter-finalists. Although the Czech Republic have not reached the final since 2006, this latest appearance is the fruit of a successful shoot-off against a Scandinavian opponent – ​​Norway having lost 2-0 on aggregate against Karel Brückner’s team.

The visitors have also reached the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2020, and Swedish coach Janne Andersson has no illusions about the task ahead for his side: “They beat the Netherlands in the summer and were knocked out by Denmark. They played a good EURO and are a strong footballing nation. It will be a tough game, but I don’t see it as harder or easier than playing any other nation.”

Did you know?
Sweden have won their last nine matches at Solna, scoring 18 goals and conceding just four.

Path C

Italy vs North Macedonia (8:45 p.m. CET)

The mere mention of the World Cup play-offs is enough to send shivers down the spines of most Italians. The four-time champions failed to reach the final for the first time since 1958 when they were knocked out by Sweden in the play-offs last time out, ending a streak of 14 straight grand ball appearances. However, the reset wrought by that setback was impressive as Roberto Mancini reinvigorated the nation and led them to glory last summer.

An adjustment will also be needed for North Macedonia if they want to inflict another shock exit on the Azzurri, according to their coach Blagoja Milevski: “Italy are the current European champions. They play different football and that makes the difficult things for all their opponents. Now for us, we have to adapt to the challenge.”

Did you know?
North Macedonia were one of the teams that hindered Italy’s bid to reach the 2018 World Cup, drawing 1-1 with the Azzurri in Turin after a 3-2 loss at home.

Portugal v Turkey (8:45 p.m. CET)

Portugal would probably have been bottom of the list of teams that Turkey hoped to draw in these play-offs, especially as the Seleção have won all five competitive encounters between these nations. The last of those came at UEFA EURO 2008, with Pepe opening the scoring in a 2-0 win in Geneva. So the story belongs to the home side, but Turkey are relishing their underdog status and have been on the rise – and unbeaten – since Stefan Kuntz took charge in September.

“Route C is definitely the most difficult,” said Kuntz, who won EURO 96 with Germany. “But the development of the team, the staff and the TFF since I’ve been there gives me hope. Our wish would be to bring the most important match [the play-off final] back to Turkey to see what we can accomplish.”

Did you know?
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo broke the world record for international goals during the qualifying campaign and now has 115 to his name.

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Happy Sunday, Mane Landers. I hope you’re not too groggy to put your clocks forward. At least you won’t have to touch them again until November. Grab your favorite caffeinated drink and dive into today’s news from the world of football.

The Lions suffer their first loss of 2022

Despite dominating possession, passing accuracy, corners, shots and shots on target, Orlando City managed to lose at home to FC Cincinnati. Junior Urso pulled back a goal from Brandon Vazquez in the first half, but the Cincinnati forward scored again in the second half and this time the Lions went unanswered in a 2-1 loss to a team who had previously not scored a goal. the season. Cincy had lost 14 consecutive games since last September and before Saturday night had won only once in the last 27 times the team took the field. It won’t be easy to recover from the loss with a trip to the LA Galaxy looming and a visit to Portland the following week. Michael Citro has your match recap, while later today you can check out our five takeaways from the game and our player ratings and man of the match.

USA beat Mexico to win Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship

The United States Women’s Under-20 National Team beat Mexico 2-0 in the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship Championship game in the Dominican Republic on Saturday. The win gave the United States a record seventh Concacaf title in that age group. Striker Michelle Cooper scored in the third minute and midfielder Talia DellaPeruta converted a penalty late in the first half. Cooper won the tournament’s Golden Boot and Golden Ball as the competition’s top scorer and player, respectively. Both teams had already secured places for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2022 thanks to their semi-final victories. You can check out the highlights below.

Saturday MLS Results

After revealing his MLS Cup 2021 champions banner in their snowy opener at home, New York City FC crushed CF Montreal 4-1 with an assist and a goal from Magno Talles. The Columbus Crew are now unbeaten in their first three games of the season after beating Toronto FC 2-1. Already trailing 1-0, Brek Shea’s first-half red card crushed Inter Miami’s comeback chances and LAFC added another for a 2-0 win at a soggy and windy DRV PNK Stadium. Inter Miami’s Phil Neville challenged their only designated player Gonzalo Higuaín after the game, saying “for us to be successful, he has to perform.”

The Seattle Sounders defeated the LA Galaxy 3-2 to win their first game of the campaign. Darwin Quintero scored twice to lead the Houston Dynamo past the Vancouver Whitecaps, 2-1. The Chicago Fire beat DC United 2-0 to give Ezra Hendrickson his first win as manager. Real Salt Lake scored three late in the second half to overcome a 2-0 deficit and beat the New England Revolution 3-2. Carles Gil of the Revolution did not have fun in the snow.

The Philadelphia Union gave Jim Curtin his 100th career regular season win and went undefeated as they knocked out the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0. Club record signing Alan Velasco scored on his debut to give FC Dallas a 2-0 victory over Nashville SC.

The final games featured Colorado vs. Sporting Kansas City and Portland vs. Austin.

Ronaldo’s hat trick goes down in history

After missing his side’s 4-1 loss to Manchester City last week, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to propel Manchester United to a 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. His three goals give him 807, making him the all-time leading goalscorer in the history of men’s football combined for club and country. Although this record is disputed and unofficial, FIFA estimates that the Austrian-Czech Josef Bican scored 805 goals during a career that spanned from 1931 to 1955.

Free kicks

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Thank you for joining us today, Mane Landers. Shake off last night’s loss and prepare for the LA Galaxy next weekend.

Darijo Srna is currently director of football at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he spent much of his playing career, and helped the current team leave Kyiv after the Russian invasion.

Former Croatia international captain Darijo Srna has shared details of hours of chaos as he helped Shakhtar Donetsk players out of the Ukrainian capital Kiev amid Russia’s invasion of the country.

The 39-year-old, who played over 500 games for Shakhtar and won 134 international caps, has returned to his former club as director of football after ending his playing career in 2019.

He was in Donetsk in 2014 when the Russian annexation of Crimea took place, and the Donbass-based club have been playing their home games in Kyiv since 2020 and saw one of their youth coaches killed as the fighting continues within Ukrainian borders.

When the invasion began on February 24, the people of Kiev were forced to act quickly, and Srna opened up about the need to make “good decisions” and the help offered by the president of the UEFA, Alexander Ceferin.

“I was calm but I was also scared. I had been there before,” Srna said. The Guardian, explaining that he had already been forced to flee Donetsk three days before the 2014 airport attack.

“The club offered two buses for everyone but there was no one who could tell you: ‘Yes, everything will be fine on the road.’ On the second day the embassies were all saying they couldn’t help, it wasn’t secure, we had to stay in the hotel.

“That’s when you almost start to panic: in the first two days there was so much news, some of it fake, and you start getting a lot of phone calls from friends and family. saying, ‘Get out, get out.’ ‘You’re under pressure and it’s not easy to be calm in that moment.’

“It was kind of a chaos,” added Srna, who helps Shakhtar players and staff travel west while trying to keep his cool while being forced to hunker down in basements. as sirens blare overhead.

He also praised Ceferin’s role in helping with the evacuation, with the UEFA chief helping to coordinate player transport and Ukraine FA chief Andriy Pavelko allowing some of the South Americans on the club’s books to travel to relative safety.

Shakhtar have a long history of recruiting Brazilian players, and one of their current squad members – Brazilian-born Ukraine international Junior Moraes – was put in direct contact with Ceferin.

“Ceferin and Pavelko did a tremendous job,” Srna said after the evacuation.

“They have shown that they are not only top presidents, but also top personalities. Ceferin has taken on this mission as if he were looking after his own family. In war, you find out who is your friend and who is not, who gives you a glass of water and who gives you a glass of milk Today, this seems very important.

Some of Shakhtar’s foreign players have been allowed to leave the country, but many Ukrainian nationals have been forced to stay within its borders, and the club has shared a number of social media posts praising the Shakhtar community. football for his solidarity.

Current Ukraine internationals Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko are among those who have called on the football community to help stop the war, sending messages as part of a wider appeal.

Yarmolenko also took aim at the Russian players for not speaking up, asking “why are you sitting like shit and not saying anything?”.

“I will be honest, if not for my daughter, my family, I would be there [fighting]”, Zinchenko told Gary Lineker in a moving interview, after Karpaty Lviv player and army recruit Vitalii Sapylo was among the first footballers killed in the war.

“I’m so proud. I’m so proud to be Ukrainian. And I always will be, for the rest of my life. And when you look at people, how they fight for their lives… There’s no no words,” Zincchenko said.

“I know the people, the mentality of my people from my country. They prefer to die, and they will die. But they are not going to give in [up].”

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Impressive winners of Borussia Dortmund in the knockout stages, Scottish champions Rangers host Serbian counterparts Crvena zvezda in the round of 16 first leg of the UEFA Europa League, a stage of the competition from which the Glasgow side have been knocked out each times. of the last two seasons.

• Rangers clinched a place in the UEFA Europa League knockout stage with one game to spare, finishing second behind Lyon in Group A on eight points, before beating Dortmund 6-4 on aggregate (4-2 a, 2-2 h) with Captain James Tavernier. scoring three of their goals in the tie.

• Crvena zvezda topped Group F in the autumn ahead of Braga, Midtjylland and Ludogorets but as section winners with just six goals – the same number Rangers managed in Group A. That was the first time the Belgrade team had ever finished first in a European group.

Rangers vs Crvena zvezda: the latest match news

Previous meetings
• Rangers and Crvena zvezda have already played three times in UEFA competition, with the Scottish side having the advantage with two aggregate wins against one.

• A play-off in London was needed to separate the teams when they first met, in the 1964/65 European Cup preliminary round, after Rangers won the first leg 3-1 in Glasgow and Crvena zvezda s won 4-2 in Belgrade. to return to. With no away goals rule in place, the Scottish side qualified after winning the extra game 3–1 at Arsenal’s Highbury.

• The teams only met in the second round of Crvena zvezda’s triumphant 1990/91 European Cup campaign, with Darko Pančev scoring in both matches as the Belgrade side went on to a 3-0 home win with a 1-1 draw in Glasgow.

• The most recent encounter, however, belonged to Rangers, as they eliminated Crvena zvezda from the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, Nacho Novo’s 90th-minute goal in the first leg at Ibrox s ‘proving to be the only goal of the meeting. . Walter Smith’s side would end this European campaign as UEFA Cup runners-up.

• Rangers’ only other UEFA game against a Serbian opponent was a 2006/07 UEFA Cup group game at home to Partizan, which they won 1-0 thanks to an Alan Hutton goal for reach the knockout stage. They are therefore undefeated at home by the Serbian visitors (W3 D1).

• Crvena zvezda’s all-time home and away record against Scottish opponents is W2 L3. Beaten by Celtic in the 1968/69 European Cup second round (1-5 a, 1-1 h), they beat Hearts on away goals in the Cup Winners’ Cup qualifying round European 1996/97 (0-0h, 1-1y). They still have to win in five trips to Scotland (D2 L3).

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Form Guide
Rangers
• Unbeaten champions Scotland in 2020/21 as they won a record 55th domestic league title, Rangers also made 13 appearances in the UEFA Europa League, progressing from the second qualifying round to the round of 16, where their journey ended with Slavia Prague (1-1 a, 0-2 h).

• Rangers returned to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in a decade this season but lost both third qualifying round matches 2-1 to Malmö and were therefore transferred to the UEFA Europa play-offs League, where they edged out Alashkert to reach the final. group stage for the fourth consecutive season. Although they lost their first two group games – against Lyon (0-2 h) and Sparta (0-1 a) – they remained unbeaten thereafter, taking four points from Brøndby (2-0 h, 1-1 a) and taking second place. place with a 2-0 victory over Sparta at Ibrox on matchday five in their first game under new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who had replaced Steven Gerrard.

• This is Rangers’ fourth appearance in the UEFA Europa League round of 16, and their third in a row, a record. However, in the previous three campaigns they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals, coming out at PSV Eindhoven in 2010/11 (0-0 a, 0-1 h), at Bayer Leverkusen in 2019/20 (1-3 h, 0-1 a) and Slavia last season. They are therefore yet to win a game at this stage of the competition, scoring just two goals and losing all three home games.

• The Glasgow giants have lost just five of their last 31 European home games (W19 D7), although three of those defeats have come in the last seven – against Slavia, Malmö and Lyon. In the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, their record at Ibrox is W2 D2 L3, with all three eliminations all triggered by those home defeats.

Crvena zvezda
• A fourth consecutive Serbian SuperLiga title for Crvena zvezda in 2020/21, and second under manager Dejan Stanković, was completed with a first victory in nine years in the Serbian Cup. The club’s first domestic double since 2006/07 capped a season in which they also played a dozen games in Europe, reaching the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League, where they lost goals at the outside against AC Milan (2-2 h, 1- 1a).

• This season’s bid to return to the UEFA Champions League group stage, where Crvena zvezda played in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, was thwarted by Moldovan champions Sheriff in the third qualifying round after that the Belgrade team had eliminated Kairat Almaty. CFR Cluj were then convincingly beaten in the UEFA Europa League play-offs to secure Crvena zvezda’s third appearance in the group stage. After advancing as runners-up in each of their two previous campaigns, in 2017/18 and 2020/21, they clinched top spot in Group F on 11 points with a 1-1 draw against second-placed Braga. the 6th day.

• This is the Belgrade side’s first appearance in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. They lost in the Round of 16 to CSKA Moskva (0-0h, 0-1a) in 2017/18 and to Milan last season. It is the club’s biggest advancement in a UEFA competition for 30 years.

• Crvena zvezda have lost just two of their 11 away matches in the UEFA Europa League proper (W3, D6), conceding just six goals in the process. Despite being beaten on the road in both UEFA Champions League qualifiers this season, they are unbeaten in seven away matches in the UEFA Europa League, including this season’s fixtures at CFR (2 -1), Ludogorets (1-0), Midtjylland (1 -1) and Braga.

UEFA Europa League squad changes
Rangers
In: Amad Diallo (Manchester United, loan), Aaron Ramsey (Juventus, loan), James Sands (New York, loan)
Outside: Juninho Bacuna (Birmingham City), Ianis Hagi, Filip Helander, Nathan Patterson (Everton)

Crvena zvezda
In: Nemanja Motika (Bayern Munich II), Ohi Omoijuanfo (Molde), Cristiano Piccini (Valencia)
Outside: Miloš Degenek (Columbus Crew), Lois Diony, Marko Lazetić (AC Milan), Njegoš Petrović (Granada)

Links and stories
• Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who made his 100th appearance in UEFA club competition in the first leg against Dortmund, kept a clean sheet in both games for the Ibrox club by beating Crvena zvezda in 2007/08 UEFA Champions League qualifying.

• Crvena zvezda Austrian international defender Aleksandar Dragović was part of the Leverkusen side that eliminated Rangers from the UEFA Europa League two seasons ago, starting the first leg at Ibrox and coming off the bench in the second leg.

• Aleksandar Katai, who converted crucial penalties for Crvena zvezda in both group games against Braga, also found the net for Serbia against Scotland in the UEFA EURO 2020 play-off penalty shoot-out, where Scotland, with Ryan Jack of Rangers, won 5-4 in Belgrade.

• Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield and Crvena zvezda goalkeeper Milan Borjan both played international football for Canada.

• Opposing managers Van Bronckhorst and Stanković met for the Netherlands and Serbia and Montenegro respectively in a group stage match at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with the Oranje winning 1-0 in Leipzig. Both players have won over 100 caps at senior international level (Van Bronckhorst 106, Stanković 103).

• Rangers are in the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League for the third successive season. Only one team, Sevilla (2013/14–2015/16), have already scored the treble.

• Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos’ goal in the first leg against Dortmund was his 31st in all rounds of the UEFA Europa League, qualifying included, making him the third-highest all-time goalscorer in the league UEFA Europa League and UEFA Cup combined – level with Radamel Falcao and Aritz Aduriz and behind only Henrik Larsson (40) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (34).

• Rangers and Crvena zvezda are the only two defending domestic champions to make the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 this season. The Serbian club is one of three national cup winners on the pitch, along with Barcelona and Braga.

• Crvena zvezda are one of three former European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners involved in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16, along with Barcelona and Porto.

• Serbia have a club in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 for the first time, making them the 23rd nation represented at this stage of the competition.

• Rangers and Crvena zvezda currently sit second in their domestic league standings behind their arch-rivals, the first three points behind Celtic, the bottom two behind Partizan.

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The Indian Premier League has revolutionized franchise cricket worldwide, the cash-rich tournament has already exceeded the expectations of many since its inception and still has the potential to reach new heights. However, several former cricketers and critics have always criticized the IPL as they felt the Indian tournament had impacted several international teams as players prioritized playing in the money-rich league over their home countries. .

Indian veteran Ravichandran Ashwin, on his Youtube channel, gave a strong response to the IPL critics and elaborated on several details regarding the money-rich league – its impact and future.

Ashwin spoke about the much-criticized scheduling of the IPL as several teams plan their schedules with the Indian franchise tournament in mind.

“What are the disadvantages of this two-week early departure compared to other countries? They (the international teams) would have already programmed their international calendar. For example, we have England and Australia playing few games against different countries during the IPL. Even Sri Lanka has few international matches during the IPL window,” Ashwin began.

“But mostly South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand schedule their international matches based on IPL matches. This year New Zealand have no international matches during the IPL.”

The veteran spinner pointed to the tweet from English journalist Lawrence Booth who recently criticized the IPL schedule. Ashwin made his point by giving an example of football leagues where the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and others mostly hold dates in the football schedule, but apart from them players also have played in the Champions League, international matches and the FIFA world. Chopped off.

“Lawrence Booth (English journalist) had tweeted about IPL matches saying it takes almost a third (one sixth) of the year. Even the English Premier League is happening and almost has a six window months. Players will have more gaps between games and they will only have one or two games a week. Of course cricket reaching this stage will always be a huge question mark. But IPL as a league has all the potential to bring cricket to this stage for sure. And all cricket viewers, cricket nations, stakeholders already know that,” Ashwin said.

“Due to this IPL window, it is possible that other international cricket or world event formats will be shortened. For example, while the EPL is taking place in football, there will be simultaneous leagues in Italy, in Spain, etc. And they will also have a champions league. And four years once, they also have a FIFA World Cup.

“Whereas in cricket we have a 50 World Cup, a Test World Championship, a T20 World Cup, and on top of that we also have to have windows for all these leagues, like IPL, PSL, league T10, CPL, BBL, etc. In England they have a Hundred Ball competition and on top of that they also have a T20 Blast. There are so many leagues that start every year,” he explained.

Ashwin also explained that IPL had been under the radar for years. In recent times, several former cricketers including Mike Atherton and David Gower have blamed IPL for England’s disappointing show in Ashes 2021-22 where they suffered a 0-4 loss to Australia.

However, the ace India off-spinner highlighted the impact of the IPL on Indian cricket as almost three times the number of players get opportunities every year now compared to the pre-IPL era.

“IPL has been under the radar for so many years now. Suddenly a former cricketer will say bad things about IPL for no reason. Imagine the situation in 2008 or 2010. There were only 20-25 cricketers who would be in the Indian setup to represent Team India,” Ashwin said.

Ashwin went on to talk about the positive impact the IPL has had on Indian cricket. “Even when I started, my parents and grandparents asked me if cricket was going to help me financially. Only 15 to 20 or 25 cricketers will have opportunities over a 10-year period. But now, thanks in the IPL, at least 75-80 Indian cricketers get opportunities every year,” the off-spinner said.

“It doesn’t stop at the IPL alone. Players have the opportunity to participate in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and show their talent there. On top of that, players also have opportunities in the media, coaching setup, or any other ecosystem setup that gives them opportunities. It’s a huge check mark for IPL, he said.

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Russia has been expelled from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by FIFA after world governing body and European association UEFA issued a joint statement confirming that all Russian national teams and clubs have been suspended until further notice following the invasion of ukraine.

Amid growing pressure from European nations and the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and UEFA confirmed on Monday that Russia would not take part in the next World Cup qualifiers – Russia were due to face Poland in the semi-finals before a possible final against Sweden or the Czech Republic. Republic in March – and that the Russian women’s team would be withdrawn from the European Championships which would be held in England in July.

Spartak Moscow have also been dropped from the Europa League, meaning round-of-16 opponents RB Leipzig will be granted a bye to the quarter-finals of the competition.

In a separate move, UEFA have confirmed they are canceling their deal with sponsor Gazprom – the Russian energy company – which brings in €40m a year to the organisation.

UEFA’s decision comes after St Petersburg were stripped of the hosting rights for this season’s Champions League final, with Paris coming after the decision to move the showpiece away from the Russian city.

In a statement, FIFA and UEFA said: “Following the first decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which provided for the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have decided today together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, will be suspended from participating in FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.

“These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of the two institutions on such urgent matters.

“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all those affected in Ukraine. Both presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and quickly so that football can once again be a vehicle for unity and peace among peoples.”

Commenting on the decision to sever ties with Gazprom, UEFA said: “UEFA decided today to end its partnership with Gazprom in all competitions.

“The decision takes effect immediately and covers all existing agreements, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA national team competitions and UEFA EURO 2024.”