The world football body referred to the peninsula as a Russian territory.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and national football (soccer) association (UAF) have demanded official apologies from the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) for airing a map on 13 December this year with Crimea marked as a Russian territory.

The map was shown during a broadcast of the draw ceremony for the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers.

“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. We fixed the map for you and expect a public apology,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi twitted.

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The national football association too protested over the incident. In a letter to FIFA Secretary General Mathias Grafström and UEFA Secretary General Theodore Theodoridis, UAF called the depiction of Ukraine’s map without Crimea “an unacceptable error.”

Neither FIFA not UEFA – the Union of European Football Associations – have released formal apologies or statements justifying the incident as of today.

Ukraine’s rivals in Group D are Iceland, Azerbaijan, and France or Croatia. Russia has been kicked out of FIFA and UEFA tournaments since February 2022.

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