European football governing body UEFA has confirmed that it has banned Russian clubs from its competitions, whilst FIFA have confirmed that the country's national team has been banned from international tournaments "until further notice."
The decisions have been made following Russian president Vlavimir Putin's decision to invade neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday morning. Both UEFA and FIFA, as a result of Putin's actions, were immediately pressured into imposing sanctions against the country and they have now done so.
A statement released by UEFA/FIFA on Monday said: "Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
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"These decisions were adopted today by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and the Executive Committee of UEFA, respectively the highest decision-making bodies of both institutions on such urgent matters.
"Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine. Both Presidents hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace amongst people."
The sanctions imposed by UEFA mean that Spartak Moscow have been kicked out of the Europa League, just days after being drawn against RB Leipzig in the last-16 of the competition. No Russian clubs are still in this season's Champions League.
In recent years, the Russian Premier League was granted two Champions League spots at the start of every season, with the clubs that finish first and second claiming them. The league champions would automatically qualify for the group stages, whilst the runners-up would have to negotiate their way through a play-off round to reach the final-32.
Therefore, should the Russia-Ukraine situation fail to be resolved, meaning strict sporting sanctions remain in place against Russian clubs, two additional Champions League berths for next season would be opened up elsewhere. However, UEFA are to yet provide any insight into where they would come from.
As things currently stand, as per tradition, the Premier League has four spots for Champions League qualification, with the top four securing their places in the competition for the following season. England has more Champions League spots than any other nation currently, meaning other countries could be granted additional slots for next term.
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