- Russia is set to return to Fifa competition for the first time since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine after being listed as entrants for next month's boys' Under-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan.
- The Russian squad has been drawn in a group alongside Turkey, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Sudan, marking the first time a team from the nation will actually compete since Fifa lifted prohibitions on under-17 sides in 2023.
- Fifa president Gianni Infantino told Sky News in February that the Russia ban had “not achieved anything”, a statement condemned as “irresponsible and infantile” by Ukraine's sports minister Matvii Bidnyi.
- The decision follows the International Olympic Committee withdrawing its recommendation to ban Russian teams and provisionally lifting its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee.
- Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev and the Kremlin welcomed the moves as a green light for international federations to reinstate Russian athletes ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
IN FULL
Russia to play in first Fifa tournament since Ukraine invasion
