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The European Union has threatened to derail the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia by discussing plans to ban footballers from participating in the tournament.

Outraged over Russias behaviour in Ukraine, EU officials are proposing a block on European footballers playing for the cup.

According to reports in The Times of London, ban on European players would be one of several sanctions aimed at controlling President Vladimir Putin and Moscows military involvement in Ukraine, which includes Russian military incursions and its supplies of arms to separatists.

However, 2014 champions Germany are not considering a boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia due to the political situation in Ukraine, a spokesman said.

The same FIFA session which awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar also handed Russia the 2018 fixture.

Until now, Qatar has had serious controversy surrounding it but looks set to deliver a better standard of football than Russia.

Russia's budget for the World Cup is reported to be $21 billion, a tenth of the $210 billion Qatar plans on spending (however, they may require air-conditioned stadiums).

Russia spent $57 billion on the Sochi Olympics, but will re-use the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies as a football stadium in 2018.

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European footballers miss out on the 2018 World Cup in Russia?