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Kuleba calls FIFA’s rejection of Zelensky’s request to offer ‘message of peace’ hypocritical

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Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized the International Association of Football Federations’ (FIFA) decision to reject President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to deliver a “message of peace” during the World Cup final in Qatar.

The decision by FIFA “showed the hypocrisy under the name ‘sports outside of politics,’” Kuleba said.

“World sports organizations and officials have covered themselves with this phrase for too long. In fact, cowardice was always behind it,” Kuleba said.

Argentina won the World Cup, defeating France, on Dec. 18.

On Dec. 16, the International Association of Football Federations (FIFA) rejected President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to deliver a “message of peace” during the World Cup final in Qatar, according to CNN, citing an unnamed source.

Zelensky’s office was reportedly surprised by FIFA’s rejection of the Ukrainian president’s proposal.

“We thought FIFA wanted to use its platform for the greater good,” the source said, adding that talks between Ukraine and FIFA were still underway.

FIFA and its European body, UEFA, suspended Russian football clubs and national teams from all competitions on Feb. 28, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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"Our country reminds the world before the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics that sport is not outside of politics. After all, the sanctioned individuals openly support aggression, war crimes, and occupation, thus destroying the principles and values ​​of the Olympic movement."

 (Updated:  )

The delegation consists of the recently appointed President’s Office head Kyrylo Budanov, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, and the parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, David Arakhamia.

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