Russia and Ukraine might be put into different groups at the 2018 World Cup finals if the Ukrainians qualify and relations between the two countries do not improve, FIFA said yesterday.

However, FIFA denied a comment attributed to president Sepp Blatter, who was quoted by the R-Sport agency as saying “you can be sure about this” in reply to a question about whether the two countries would be kept apart.

“The president did not say that they would be kept apart or that such a decision has been made. It seems (there was) a translation mistake,” said FIFA in a statement.

“What the FIFA president actually said was that, in any qualifying campaign, the aim is always to avoid problems as was done in the past between teams where high tensions can be anticipated.”

Blatter, who was on a visit to Moscow for the unveiling of Russia’s official World Cup emblem, said politics should not mix with sport following calls to move the 2018 tournament to a different country due to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.

“A boycott never achieves anything and does not have a positive effect. FIFA is fully supporting the World Cup in Russia,” said the 78-year-old in an interview given to ITAR-news and R-Sport.

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