Miranchuk refused to celebrate hours after Russia were banned from all competitions by FIFA and UEFA
Russian international Aleksei Miranchuk refused to celebrate after scoring for Atalanta in their win against Sampdoria on Sunday.
Miranchuk scored the fourth goal in the Italian side’s victory but refused to celebrate – instead opting to lower his head and hold his hands up apologetically, seemingly in relation to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by his home country.
His celebration came just hours after FIFA and UEFA announced that they had banned the Russian national team and all domestic clubs from competing in their competitions.
BREAKING: FIFA and UEFA suspend Russian teams from football 🚨 https://t.co/Fi8moBhIsK
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 28, 2022
A joint statement read: “FIFA and UEFA have today decided that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice.
“Football is fully united and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine.
“Both presidents of FIFA and UEFA hope the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector for unity and peace among people.’
Miranchuk plays alongside Ukrainian International Ruslan Malinovskyi, who celebrated his goal in the Europa League against Olympiacos on Thursday by unveiling a shirt which read ‘No war in Ukraine’.
Following Atalanta’s win, Dutch midfielder Martin de Roon admitted it had been a difficult few days for the squad, but both Miranchuk and Malinovskyi remain close friends and are supportive of each other.
“These days have been tough,” he said, as reported by the Daily Mail.
“Ruslan is having a rough time because his family and his city are in trouble, but they always talk together. There is nothing but friendship between them.”
Related links:
- Everton linked billionaire Usmanov has assets frozen by EU in light of Ukraine invasion
- FIFA and UEFA suspend all Russian teams from football
- Andriy Yarmolenko makes huge donation to Ukrainian Army
