Ukraine has strongly criticized FIFA after the football governing body displayed a map that appeared to exclude Crimea from Ukraine. The incident occurred last week during the European qualifier draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada. The map was meant to highlight countries that cannot be drawn against each other due to geopolitical issues, such as Ukraine vs Belarus, Armenia vs Azerbaijan, Spain vs Gibraltar, Kosovo vs Serbia, and Kosovo vs Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the presentation, FIFA faced immediate backlash from Kyiv after excluding Crimea from Ukraine on the map. Crimea has been under Russian occupation since 2014, with only a few countries recognizing it as part of Russia.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Heorhiy Tykhy, took to X (formerly Twitter) to question FIFA, accusing the organization of “redrawing” international borders.
“Are you OK, @FIFAcom? By redrawing international borders in yesterday’s broadcast, you not only acted against international law, but also supported Russian propaganda, war crimes, and the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Tykhy wrote.
He added, “We fixed the map for you and expect a public apology,” while sharing the correct version of the map.
The Ukrainian Football Association also sent a letter to FIFA expressing its concerns. “We write to express our deep concern regarding the infographics map of Europe displayed during the television broadcast of the European Qualifiers draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on December 13, 2024,” the letter stated.
“Considering the official decisions and resolutions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA executive committee since 2014… we emphasize that the current version of the cartographic image of Ukraine is completely unacceptable and reflects an inconsistent position from both FIFA and UEFA,” it continued.
In response to the backlash from the Ukrainian Football Association, FIFA issued a statement acknowledging the issue. “FIFA is aware of an issue that affected one of the graphics shown during the draw and has addressed the situation with the Federation. The segment has been removed,” the statement read.
