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A map shown during the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been criticized by Ukraine as an “unacceptable error” after it appeared to exclude Crimea from the country.
The graphic, which shows countries that cannot play each other for geopolitical reasons, singled out Ukraine, but did not include the peninsula, which is internationally recognized as part of it.
Crimea has been under Russian occupation since 2014, and only a few countries recognize the peninsula as Russian territory.
The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhii Tikhi, said that the nation expects a “public apology.”
Writing on X, Tichy said FIFA not only “acted against international law” but also “supported Russian propaganda, war crimes and the crime of aggression against Ukraine.”
He added to his post a “corrected” version of the map, in which Crimea was part of the territory of Ukraine.
Among the countries that cannot play each other are Ukraine and Belarus, Spain and Gibraltar and Kosovo against Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia.
The Ukrainian Football Association also sent a letter in this regard to FIFA Secretary General Matthias Grafström and UEFA General Secretary Theodor Theodoridis.
“We are writing to you to express our deep concern about the infographic map (shown on) December 13, 2024,” the letter said.
“Taking into account a number of official decisions and resolutions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee since 2014… we emphasize that today’s version of the cartographic image of Ukraine… is absolutely unacceptable and looks like an inconsistent position of FIFA and UEFA.”
BBC News has contacted Fifa for comment.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will begin on June 11 of the same year in Mexico City and end on July 19 in New Jersey.
The tournament in the expanded composition of 48 teams will last a record 39 days.
Ukraine have been drawn in Group D alongside Iceland, Azerbaijan and France’s Nations League quarter-final winners Croatia.
