A purported quote was circulating on Facebook in several African countries since early March 2022 claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened that there will be no World Cup to talk about in 2022 after Russia’s suspension.
According to the graphics, it quotes Putin as saying: “Russia will play at the Qatar 2022 FIFA world cup or there will be no world cup to talk about.”
Above the quote is a photo of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) president Gianni Infantino holding the World Cup trophy while Putin looks on.
Russia was suspended in virtually all sporting federations including FIFA and its football team barred from taking part in the Finals in Qatar by November, 2022.
The sanction was as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, 2022.
Meanwhile, on 28 February, FIFA released a joint statement with UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, announcing that all Russian teams will be suspended from participating either organization’s competitions “until further notice”.
The Russian Football Union (RFU), however, appealed the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. In its statement, the RFU claimed that FIFA and UEFA’S decision “violated the fundamental rights of the RFU as a member of FIFA and UEFA, including the right to participate in competitions”.
According to this statement by the RFU, it was confirmed that Putin did not make any comment or post threats to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
There is no video evidence to confirm that Putin really say those words in the quote threatening the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Verdict
False. President Putin did not say that there will be no World Cup to talk about in Qatar. The alleged graphics was fabricated.
This report was produced by The Informant247 Fact Check Team.
