FIFA has apologized to the Ukrainian football federation for displaying a map during the World Cup qualifying draw that excluded Russian-occupied Crimea from the country’s territory.
“We fully understand the sensitivity of this matter and, although the incident was unintentional, we sincerely regret any concerns it may have caused,” Elkhan Mammadov, director of the FIFA Members’ Association, wrote in a letter published by the Ukrainian soccer body on Sunday.
Ukraine was one of 54 national teams drawn in the European qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup on Friday in Zurich. Russia, which was banned from FIFA competitions because of its military invasion of Ukraine, has illegally occupied Crimea since 2014. The peninsula was not colored as part of Ukraine’s territory in the graphic broadcast during the draw at FIFA headquarters.
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“Are you okay, @FIFAcom?” Ukrainian government spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi wrote in a post on social media platform X on Saturday, adding: “We have repaired the map for you and expect a public apology.”
Mammadov replied that the map was provided by an external supplier and FIFA was considering how to “ensure that such oversights do not recur in the future.”
Ukraine was in the qualifying group with France or Croatia, Iceland and Azerbaijan. The group winner will advance directly to the World Cup hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, while the runner-up will advance to the play-offs in March 2026.
FIFA and European football body UEFA banned Russian teams from international competitions in February 2022, citing expected chaos resulting from the refusal of some European associations to play matches against Russia.
