By Yusuf Mutiu
An appeal has been made by the Ukrainian FA seeking FIFA tournament ban Iran from participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
This was made known by the Ukrainian FA in a statement released on Monday by the executive committee of the association.
The 2022 world cup will kick off in twenty days time in Qatar.
Iran has been widely accused of supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine and they are believed to be supplying weapons to Russia.
The Western Asian country is also accused of breaking articles 3 and 4 of FIFA’s statutes on human rights and fighting discrimination.
“Taking into account the media information about the systemic manifestations of human rights violations in Iran which could violate the principles and norms of the FIFA charter.
“Taking into account the UN security council resolution 22.31 regarding the imposition of sanctions on Iran and the alleged involvement of Iran in the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, we appeal to FIFA with a proposal to consider excluding the Iranian national team from the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” the statement from the Ukrainian FA read.
The appeal by the Ukrainian FA is similar to the call by Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin, who had earlier called on FIFA to ban Iran from the world cup and be replaced by Ukraine.
The Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv was hit by Iranian-made ‘kamikaze’ drones deployed by the Russian military earlier in September.
Russia and Ukraine have been fighting since February this year.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has recorded several casualties from both ends but Ukraine is believed to be the worst hit during the war.
