About “moral degenerates”: Israel in the headline and Russia in priority: why FIFA President Infantino really looks “strange”

Sybiga reminded Infantino that 679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football because Russia killed them.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino trapped himself by trying to combine the incompatible: defending Israel from a boycott while simultaneously calling for Russia’s return to international football. This combination makes his position not just controversial, but morally degraded.

“We must consider the return of Russia. This ban has achieved nothing – it has only generated more frustration and hatred. The opportunity for boys and girls from Russia to play football in other parts of Europe could help. This is what needs to be done – at least at the youth level,” – said the head of FIFA in an interview on February 2, 2026, Sky Sports.

He also opposed the ban on Israel’s entry, stating that such a ban “is a defeat.”

Infantino says the right words when opposing the boycott of Israel. Israel is a state that defends itself from terror, not exporting war. Here, his arguments about the inadmissibility of collective responsibility sound logical and justified.

But the moment he suggests lifting sanctions on Russia with the same logic, everything falls apart.

Russia is not a “country affected by politics.” Russia is an aggressor waging a full-scale war, destroying cities, energy, and civilians. Comparing its situation with Israel means either not understanding reality or deliberately distorting it.

Infantino claims that sanctions against Russia “achieved nothing” and “only generated hatred.” This is not analysis – it is a cynical devaluation of facts. More than 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed since the start of the war. More than a hundred of them were football players. These people are not a “side effect of politics.” They are a direct consequence of Russian aggression.

The attempt to hide behind the formula “football is outside politics” in such a situation looks not like humanism, but like an escape from responsibility. Because it is Russia that politicized sports, used it for propaganda and legitimization of violence – from stadiums to international federations.

It is especially telling that the topic of Israel is used as a screen. By defending Israel from a boycott, Infantino simultaneously pushes the idea of rehabilitating Russia. This is a substitution of concepts, dangerous and deliberate. Israel defends itself. Russia attacks. Equating them is intellectually dishonest.

This was directly pointed out in Kyiv. NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency previously emphasized: talks about “sports neutrality” work only until the first missile strike on a residential area. Beyond that, neutrality turns into complicity.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on February 2, 2026, called such initiatives moral degradation.

“679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football – Russia killed them. And continues to kill others, while moral degenerates propose lifting bans, despite Russia not stopping the war. Future generations will consider this a disgrace, reminiscent of the 1936 Olympic Games,” – wrote Sybiga on social network X, adding a screenshot with Infantino’s statement.

And this is not emotional rhetoric. This is an accurate description of the position of a person who proposes to shake hands with the aggressor and return him to the “civilized club,” without demanding an end to the war or accountability for crimes.

Moscow predictably applauds. The Kremlin has long bet on such Western fatigue – when, for the sake of comfort and the illusion of normalcy, they are ready to forget who started the war and who pays for it with blood.

Therefore, the question is no longer about FIFA regulations or football. The question is about elementary morality. And in this sense, the definition voiced from Kyiv looks not like an insult, but a diagnosis.