FIFA demonstrates map of Ukraine without annexed Crimea during the 2026 World Cup draw

During the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the FIFA headquarters showed a map of Ukraine without the Russian-annexed Crimea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine immediately reacted to this situation:

"By redrawing the international borders in yesterday's broadcast, you not only acted contrary to international law, but also supported Russian propaganda, war crimes and criminal aggression against Ukraine," said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi.

He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, for its part, has corrected FIFA's mistake and expects a public apology from the federation.

Photo: Georgiy Tykhyi/X

FIFA representatives have not yet commented on the matter.

This is not the first attempt by sports organizers to separate Crimea from Ukraine. In July 2021, the official website of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics also posted a map with the participating countries, which separated Crimea from Ukraine by a "border". By the morning of July 23, the map was corrected on the official website of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the border between Crimea and Ukraine was removed.

Earlier, a map of Ukraine without Crimea was found in the 7th grade Ukrainian language textbook. After it was publicized, teachers were asked to correct it together with their students. They used the icon of Ukraine without Crimea. One of the authors of the textbook , Anastasia Onatiy, apologized and explained that it was due to a technical error. She suggested launching a flash mob "Draw Crimea" because the error could not be corrected in the printed books.

However, despite the proposed flash mob, the Litera LTD publishing house decided to recall and reprint the 7th grade Ukrainian language textbooks at its own expense after an image of a map of Ukraine without Crimea was found in one of the versions of the book. The textbooks will be recalled from schools, reprinted and delivered to schools again.

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