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The Socceroos' appearance at the June World Cup in Russia has been thrown into doubt, with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop declaring further action against Russia is being considered following the attempted murder of a double agent in the UK.
Key points:
- Julie Bishop identified the football World Cup when discussing further sanctions against Russia
- Australia has already expelled two Russian spies following a nerve agent attack in the UK
- The World Cup is scheduled to begin in Russia in June
"There are a whole range of further options of action that could be taken, the World Cup is one of the further actions that could be taken in relation to this matter," she said.
John Didulica, chief executive of Professional Footballers Australia, responded by declaring the Socceroos should go.
"Australia is proud to have a long history of competing at global sporting events in the face of political unrest and is one of the only nations to have competed at every Summer Olympics, including Moscow in 1980," he said.
"Football and the World Cup should be no different."
A spokesperson for Football Federation Australia told ABC that the organisation "respects the Australian Government's responsibility to make decisions about diplomatic and international relations".
"We have sought clarification regarding the Foreign Minister's comments about the World Cup," they said.
"As things stand all qualifying teams, including the England team, will be taking part in this FIFA event and that continues to be our intention."
Ms Bishop has not elaborated on the "further options" being considered.
Hours after making the initial remarks, she said on Twitter that the Government "is not considering a boycott" of the World Cup.
Further clarification about the nature of a "boycott" has not been provided, despite requests from the ABC.
At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, some Australian athletes competed without the support of the Government.
Ms Bishop's comments follow the announcement this morning that two Russian spies will be expelled from Australia.
Twenty-three nations have announced they are expelling Russian diplomats over the nerve agent attack.
Ms Bishop said there are already sanctions in place against Russia, but further action is being considered.
She addressed Parliament in Question Time and declared the act was "intolerable" and was "a serious breach of the international rules-based order".
"Australia condemns the use of chemical weapons anywhere, anytime," Ms Bishop said.
Of the 23 nations that have announced Russian expulsions, nine qualified for the World Cup: England, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Australia.
Australia is the only non-European qualifier to expel Russians.
Iceland has declared its government officials will not attend the World Cup, but its team will still travel.
The tournament is scheduled to kick off in mid-June.
Australia's first match is against France on June 16.
Topics: government-and-politics, socceroos, soccer, soccer-world-cup, sport, australia, russian-federation
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