Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are appealing against eight-year footballing bans but Russia will nonetheless invite them to the World Cup.
Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini will be invited to the World Cup final in Russia, the country's sports minister has said.
Both men were handed eight-year bans from footballing activities in December following a $1.9 million payment made from Blatter to Platini in 2011, which was deemed a breach of conflict of interest regulations by FIFA's ethics committee.
Blatter and Platini are appealing the sanctions and, according to Vitaly Mutko, would be at perfect liberty to attend the World Cup 2018
"Formally, the suspension prohibits them from any position in football," he told R-Sport.