The decision to punish Russia and exclude it from all sports competitions for four years, raised questions about the reflection of the decision on the Russian team and how will his participation if he succeeded in qualifying for the next World Cup in Qatar.
The International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided on Monday to prevent Russia from participating or organizing all international sporting events during the next four years, due to the tampering with the results of doping tests.
He does not yet know how the decision will be reflected on Russia's national football team, and a FIFA spokesman said: "FIFA is in contact with Wada and the Summer Olympic Sports Organization to clarify the dimensions of the decision regarding football."
The doping issue has caused Russia to undergo many penalties over the past years, and its athletes have been denied participation in athletics competitions and the Winter Games that were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea last year.
We can return to what happened in the Pyeongchang tournament to anticipate what might happen with the Russian soccer team, as a number of athletes who proved that they were not involved in doping in the Winter Olympics participated, but as "Olympic athletes from Russia." The Olympic flag, not the Russian flag, was raised on the podium.
The Russian anthem was not played, and instead the Olympic anthem was played, and a special costume was used for Russian athletes.
FIFA may resort to reproducing this experience and allow the Russian team to participate in the World Cup in Qatar - within the qualification - but after making sure that the players are not concerned with doping issues, that the team wear a special uniform and play under the flag of FIFA and play the anthem of the championship instead of the Russian national anthem before the launch Matches.
The situation differs in the World Cup qualifiers, because it is managed by the European Football Association (UEFA), which is not considered by Wada as a major competition federation, which leaves room for Russia to participate in the qualifiers, but the team will have to become independent in Qatar.
Russia has already qualified for the European Cup of Nations (Euro 2020), and it will be among the 12 countries hosting the tournament, where the city of St. Petersburg will host four matches in the tournament that takes place during the months of June and July next.
Since the UEFA is not a major federation, Russia can participate in the tournament and host matches.