FIFA’s extraordinary decision to bar Russian teams from international soccer, and most notably from the World Cup, currently lives in a four-sentence press release and nowhere else.
It was made by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, a seven-man body empowered to take emergency actions like this one, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But its brevity left more questions than answers, and left it vulnerable to opposition. The Russian Football Union said Monday that it “reserve[s] the right to challenge the decision … in accordance with international sports law.