Russia may return to international football after a four-year absence from FIFA-sanctioned competitions after world soccer’s governing body announced a new under-15 competition which will be “open to all member associations”.

Russia’s national teams and domestic clubs have been suspended from participating in FIFA and UEFA (the governing body of European football) competitions since the nation’s illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian Football Union (RFU) appealed against the bans, but the Court of Arbitration of Sport upheld the decisions.

The RFU, however, is not suspended — they are still a member nation of both UEFA and FIFA. It is the country’s football teams, rather than its governing body, that have been suspended.

On Wednesday, FIFA’s Council announced the creation of an “under-15 festival-style tournament…that will be open to all 211 FIFA member associations”.

The first boys’ tournament will be held in 2026, with an edition for girls to be staged in 2027.

The governing body said each member association, which includes Russia, would be invited to participate in the tournaments.

Any readmittance of Russia, however, is likely to be dependent on the ongoing war in Ukraine.

In April, FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino spoke of his hope that Russia could be reintroduced to the football fold “soon” – adding that any return would signify that “everything was solved” in relation to events in Ukraine.

Last week, Infantino said in an Instagram post that he “supported” participation of athletes, and “especially young athletes”, in events regardless of the political situation of their country”.

He added: “Sport provides an access to hope, and a way to show that all athletes can respect the same rules and one another.”

Since February 2022, Russia have been excluded from the qualification process for the men’s World Cup in 2022, and the nation did not take part in the qualifiers for either the European Championship in 2024, governed by UEFA, or the 2026 World Cup.

The nation’s club sides have not participated in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League — all overseen by UEFA.

When approached by The Athletic, a UEFA spokesperson said the organisation’s stance on Russia would not change until the conflict in Ukraine had ended.

UEFA’s Executive Committee (EXCO), its decision-making body — responsible for making decisions and overseeing competitions — will next meet in February 2026.

In 2023, UEFA reversed plans to reinstate Russia’s under-17 side in the relevant youth European Championship in 2024 following significant pushback from member associations, including England’s Football Association.

UEFA had initially said in their reasoning for reinstating under-17 teams that “children should not be punished” for the conflict and that football “should never give up sending messages of peace and hope”. Under UEFA’s initial plan, proposed matches would have been conducted without the Russian flag, anthem, or kit, and would not take place on Russian territory.

Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended athletes from Russia and Belarus should be allowed to compete under their national flags and emblems at youth level.

Russian and Belarusian competitors have been banned from competing under their countries’ flags at Olympic and Paralympic events since 2022.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the IOC permitted some Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under the “Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)” team, which had no symbolism of national anthems, badges or flags.

The IOC also said that Belarus, which has diplomatically supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, should no longer be restricted from hosting international events, although Russia should remain barred from doing so.

Belarus most recently competed in European qualifiers for the 2026 men’s World Cup, finishing bottom of Group C behind Scotland, Denmark and Greece, but the nation is not allowed to host UEFA or FIFA matches.

The L.D. Washington and Nathaniel Cannon Wall of Honor celebrates the legacy of youth sports and the leaders who built and sustained the East Austin Youth Foundation and the Greater East Austin Youth Association – organizations that have created vital opportunities for Black youth during and after segregation.

The wall is housed in the Britton, Durst, Howard and Spence Building at 1183 Chestnut Ave. in Rosewood Neighborhood Park, a historic center for Black youth sports. The building was renamed in 2011 to honor four community leaders, including Lawrence M. Britton, Sr. and James Howard, who helped found the East Austin Youth Foundation. Their work provided a safe and empowering space for young athletes at a time when Black children were excluded from white leagues.

James Howard later partnered with Nathaniel Cannon to co-found the Greater East Austin Youth Association, continuing the mission of community uplift. Cannon has served as the association’s treasurer since its founding in 1975 and has been a key organizer of the group’s annual Juneteenth celebration for over 25 years.

L.D. Washington, a beloved coach and mentor, also played a pivotal role in the East Austin Youth Foundation. His influence extended beyond sports, and he was honored with the Al Edwards Juneteenth Un-Sung Hero Award in 2001 and inducted into the Prairie View Interscholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.

The idea for the Wall of Honor came from Kenneth D. Thompson, Sr., a former player and parent in the East Austin Youth Foundation. He partnered with Lee Dawson, Jr., president of the Greater East Austin Youth Association and a former player himself, to bring the vision to life. The project was made possible through funding from the Austin Parks Foundation’s Austin City Limits Music Festival Grants Program.

Watch and share the unveiling video on:

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Before she was a WNBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and head coach of the Duke University women’s basketball team, Kara Lawson was a star in NoVA. Lawson, now 44, led the West Springfield High School Spartans to state championships in 1997 and 1999. She was recently tapped to coach the USA Basketball Women’s National Team at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and we asked her how her NoVA roots have helped shape her impressive career.

What do you like to do when you visit NoVA?

I’m from Alexandria. And my mom still lives in Alexandria. I come home a lot … more during the off-season. Mostly, I like to just spend time with my family and my friends.

What do you love about the area? 

Northern Virginia is great because you have everything. You have sports, you have theater, you have culture, you have sightseeing, you have outdoors. You basically have everything that you need.
The NoVA youth sports culture can be hyper-competitive. What’s your advice for young athletes with dreams of going pro?

Going to school in the area really prepares you for success, because you play a lot of good competition. You have a lot of good coaching in the area, a lot of good players. While college was certainly a step up, I felt very prepared when I got there. So, in our area, if you can rise to be one of the best, then that usually means you’re pretty good. It’s a good barometer for the rest of the country.

What did you learn from your coaches at West Springfield? 

I learned about teamwork. I knew about teamwork from when I was young, but we had very good team chemistry at West Springfield, and everyone had a great understanding of their roles and what they needed to do for the team to be successful. We only lost two games in three years, and we have a close group — six of my high school teammates came to the press conference [announcing my Olympic coaching appointment]. I’m still good friends with a lot of my teammates from high school.

Was coaching something you’ve always wanted to do?

Yeah, I have wanted to be a coach since I was 7 years old. 

What did being selected as the Olympic team’s head coach mean to you?

It represents the journey that it takes to do that. It makes me smile, because I think it symbolizes that I dedicated myself from when I was young to a goal. And I stayed with it over 10 years, 20 years, and was able to reach it. So it was very fulfilling. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Feature image of Kara Lawson courtesy USA Basketball

This story originally ran in our December issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.

A beloved youth sports referee who worked games across Central Indiana for more than three decades has died after collapsing on the court during a girls’ high school basketball game.

Jeff Tamarri, who was known among families as “Jeff the Ref,” was 63 years old.

Tamarri collapsed during a game at Monrovia High School on Friday, Dec. 12, according to NBC affiliate WTHR and the IndyStar.

WTHR reported that Tamarri’s collapse prompted fans to clear the gym so bystanders with medical backgrounds could work on saving him until first responders arrived. 

“I have no doubt in my mind that they did all they could,” fellow youth sports referee Kevin Brown told WTHR. “Unfortunately, I just don’t think there was much to be done.”

Brown mourned Tamarri as a sports referee who enjoyed his job and “was always out there for the right reasons.”

“He truly died doing what I know he loved,” Brown said.

“He had a calming presence, and I always said officials need to lower the temperature in the room,” Brown told WTHR. “Some people are really gifted at it. He was really gifted at it.”

Tamarri’s fellow referee told the outlet that his late colleague appeared to have “some sort of cardiac event” before collapsing on the court. “It was a simple offensive rebound right in the middle of the second quarter, and he turned around to get position on it” before collapsing, Brown told WTHR.

The outlet estimated that Tamarri officiated thousands of youth sports games across his 30-plus year career.

Fellow referee Derek Whitfield announced Tamarri’s death in a post on a local youth umpiring social media page, saying although it “leaves an immense void in our hearts, there is a quiet comfort in knowing he left us pursuing his passion, surrounded by sports that defined so much of his life.”

“Jeff was more than an outstanding official who graced countless games across many sports; he was a mentor, a friend, and a guiding light to young athletes, coaches, and fellow umpires alike,” Whitfield wrote, adding, “Those who knew Jeff will forever remember his warm, infectious smile and the deep, authentic love he showed to players, coaches, colleagues, friends, and his family.”

Referee Terry Taylor, who Whitfield described as Tamarri’s best friend and longtime roommate, told WTHR that Tamarri “was such a great guy.”

“We’d see a lot of faces, the same faces in different sports,” Taylor said. “So from Grand Park to Zionsville to Danville, where we worked a lot in the last few years, there were a lot of upset kids Saturday when they found out.”

ONE OF ANALYSS BENALLY’S most memorable basketball moments didn’t happen during a game. In fact, the Shiprock native didn’t even have a ball in her hands. 

Benally, who plays professionally in Europe, was hosting a camp last year on the Havasupai reservation, in Arizona. The 20 or so campers had gathered to watch Rez Ball, the Netflix film about a Navajo basketball team attempting to win a New Mexico state championship after the death of its star player, in which Benally had a small role. As the (spoiler alert) game-winning shot dropped through the net, a young camper sitting next to Benally tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Look, just imagine that could be me.” 

“It did something to my heart,” Benally says, her voice warm with emotion. “I never had a moment like that in my life. I really got to witness that moment of a kid being inspired, seeing himself being represented, where he’s from, the people he’s from.” 

Benally understands this better than most. She grew up on the Navajo Nation before moving to Wichita, Kansas, with her family at the age of 12 to support her older sister’s basketball dreams at Kansas Wesleyan University. A star in high school who scored more than 1,000 points in her career, Benally played at San Jose State before turning pro. Her career has taken her to leagues in Albania, Kosovo, Romania, and Croatia. “It’s been my goal since I was five,” says the 5-foot-7-inch guard. “It honestly feels like it’s what I am meant to do.”

Over the past four years, Benally and her father, Brian Benally, a varsity assistant basketball coach at Bloomfield High School, have held around 25 ABFive camps in New Mexico and across the country. “We try to get to the smaller communities,” Brian says from their home in Farmington. “Growing up on the rez can be hard, but [achieving success] can be done.” 

More than 200 kids signed up for Benally’s ABFive camp in Shiprock over the summer. “They want to touch her, they want to talk to her, they want pictures,” Brian says. “She enjoys being around the kids.” 

While the camps teach fundamentals like stretching, footwork, agility, and shooting mechanics, there’s a broader message at work as well. “She goes overseas, she learns new cultures, a new way to do things, she comes home, and she doesn’t keep that stuff to herself,” Brian says. “She wants everyone to learn from her and achieve more than she has.” 

Inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this year, Benally serves as inspiration both on and off the court. “Basketball isn’t who I am,” she says. “It’s simply the thing that’s given me so much. If you were to take it from me, I know exactly who I am and what I need to continue to do.” That’s why the camps are so important each summer. “If I couldn’t do basketball at all, I would definitely be working with the youth.”