FIFA apologized to the Ukrainian soccer federation for displaying a map during its World Cup qualifying draw that excluded Russia-occupied Crimea from the country’s territory. “We fully understand the delicate sensitivity of this matter and while the incident was unintentional,

Vladimir Putin’s forces have also illegally occupied Crimea since 2014 and the peninsula was not coloured as part of Ukrainian territory in a graphic broadcast during the draw event for the 2026 tournament at Fifa’s Zurich headquarters. That drew a ...