On Friday, December 13, the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers took place. During the ceremony, FIFA showed a map of Europe, depicting Ukraine without Crimea. Former player of Lviv’s “Karpaty” Igor Khudobiak reacted to this scandal.
“It is unacceptable when FIFA makes such 'mistakes.' It is necessary to figure out whether it was intentional or an accident. We need to write, reach out to the organization, let them apologize, so that there are no such nuances with the map of Ukraine next time.
FIFA behaves very strangely, taking such a position regarding Ukraine. This does not look like an accident. Perhaps they indeed have some loyalty to Russia, maybe the aggressor country is influencing this. Ukraine needs to fight against this, it needs to prove, to appeal in courts, to write letters, to counteract this.
In my opinion, Belarus, just like Russia, should not be allowed to participate in any tournaments. But for this, a lot needs to be done; our diplomats must work, and the UAF must appeal through the courts, and so on,” said Khudobiak.