Ukraine asks FIFA, UEFA to ban Russian teams from competitions after invasion

Even before Russia's troubling invasion of Ukraine began Wednesday evening ET, UEFA was reportedly considering relocating the Champions League final set to occur in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on May 28. It's believed UEFA will announce that decision at some point on Friday, but that could be only the beginning. 

According to Aidan Fitzmaurice of the Irish Independent, the Ukrainian Football Association has called upon both UEFA and FIFA to ban any teams from Russia from participating in official tournaments. As of the posting of this piece, Zenit Saint Petersburg were scheduled to face Real Betis in the second leg of a Europa League tie on Thursday afternoon ET. 

In a released statement, the Ukrainian FA said it opted "to send to FIFA and UEFA appropriate appeals prohibiting the participation of national teams and clubs of Russia to participate in any international competitions under the auspices of FIFA and UEFA.

"To send an appeal to UEFA regarding the decision as soon as possible to change the city and country of the UEFA Champions League final of the 2021-2022 season and the UEFA Super Cup-2023." 

Per Paul MacInnes of The Guardian, next year's UEFA Super Cup, which will feature the winners of the Champions League facing the Europa League victors, is scheduled to take place in the Russian city of Kazan.

Earlier in the day, the Football Associations of Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic released a joint statement requesting they don't be asked to play potential upcoming World Cup playoff matches in Russia. Russia are slated to host Poland on March 24th, and the winners of that match will host either Sweden or Czech Republic. It's unknown if FIFA would expel Russia entirely from the World Cup that begins Nov. 21.