FIFA has joined UEFA in readmitting Russia to its under-17 competitions.
Football's world and European governing bodies imposed a total ban on Russian national teams and clubs shortly after the country's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
However, the UEFA executive committee voted in favour of a motion last week asking its administration to find a technical solution which would allow the Russian boys and girls under-17 teams to re-enter its competitions.
Now FIFA Council has approved an extension of that decision to enable Russia to play at the Under-17 World Cup and Under-17 Women's World Cup, should they qualify via the UEFA pathway.
FIFA said this was conditional on the teams playing as the 'Football Union of Russia' rather than Russia, without the Russian flag or anthem, and wearing neutral kit.
"The FIFA Council reiterated its condemnation of Russia's illegal war in Ukraine and confirmed that the remaining terms of the decision made on February 28, 2022 remain in force until the end of the conflict," a statement issued on Wednesday said.
A number of countries have already stated since the UEFA decision that they will refuse to play against Russian teams at under-17 level.
Sweden, who are due to host the next Women's Under-17 European Championship, have said they will not allow a Russian team to participate in the event.
UEFA has yet to provide detail on which qualification groups the Russian teams would enter.
Watch the Sports Direct FAI Cup semi-finals, Galway United v Bohemians (Saturday 2.30pm) and Cork City v St Patrick's Athletic (Sunday 2.30pm) on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app
