Column: Infantino’s admiration of Putin leaves FIFA exposed


              FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground, plays with an official match ball for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup received from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, after their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Russian teams have been suspended from all international soccer, including qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup, as Moscow was pushed toward pariah status in sports for its invasion of Ukraine. World soccer body FIFA and European authority UEFA banned Russian national and club teams from their competitions "until further notice," taking Russia's men's national team out of World Cup qualifying playoffs in three weeks' time. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
            
              FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, stands beside FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, in the heavy rain at the end of the 2018 World Cup final soccer match between France and Croatia in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, July 15, 2018. FIFA and UEFA have today decided together 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. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
            
              FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, applauds beside FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the end of the 2018 World Cup final soccer match between France and Croatia in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, July 15, 2018. FIFA and UEFA have today decided together 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. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Column: Infantino’s admiration of Putin leaves FIFA exposed