Ukraine complained to FIFA about the map of the country without Crimea at the draw for the World Cup 2026

The Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) has filed a complaint with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Football Federation (FIFA) because of the demonstration during the broadcast of the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament (WC) of a map where Crimea is not part of Ukraine. This was reported by the UAF in Telegram on December 13.

"The UAF appealed to FIFA and UEFA about the unacceptable error in the image of the map of Ukraine during the broadcast of the draw for the qualification of the World Cup 2026", - stated in the publication.

It is specified that the complaints were sent to FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafström and UEFA Secretary General Theodor Theodoridis.

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Earlier in the day, UEFA held the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Zurich. The national teams were divided into 12 groups of four or five participants. Sixteen nations, including the 12 group winners, will qualify for the finals. Another four spots will be played in the knockout matches involving the 12 second-placed teams in the groups.

Earlier, in January, a live broadcast of the Ukrainian TV channel Rada showed a map of Russia with Crimea as part of the country's territory. After that, the TV channel restricted the possibility of rewinding the broadcast.

On February 28, 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended national teams and clubs from the Russian Federation from participation in all competitions under the auspices of the organizations. As assured in the organizations, soccer will become "a vector of unity and peace between peoples" in case the situation around Ukraine improves.

Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after a referendum in which the majority of the peninsula's residents voted in favor of reunification with the Russian Federation. Kiev refuses to recognize the results of the vote and considers Crimea its territory. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea democratically voted for reunification in full compliance with international law and that the question of the peninsula's belonging to the Russian Federation is finally closed.