The UK has formally banned Russia's mercenary Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation weeks after the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. The government order, approved on Friday, makes it a criminal offence to be a member or a supporter of the paramilitary group in the UK. “The Russian mercenary organisation, Wagner Group, has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation today after an order was laid in Parliament on Wednesday September 6,” the Home Office said in a statement. Apart from joining the group or showing support, arranging meetings for the group and displacing Wagner's flag or logo will also be considered a criminal offence. Those found guilty of violating the order will face a potential prison sentence of up to 14 years, which can be handed down alongside or in place of a fine, it added. The move puts Wagner in the same category as the Islamic State group, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Boko Haram in Africa and Northern Ireland paramilitaries among others. The Wagner Group is a private military company that was under the control of Prigozhin until his reported death in a plane crash on 23 August. It has been a key part of Moscow’s fighting force in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Home secretary Suella Braverman proposing the ban last week said Wagner has been "involved in looting, torture and barbarous murders". Calling the group a "threat to national security", Ms Braverman added:"They are terrorists, plain and simple - and this proscription order makes that clear in UK law." The ban will allow UK authorities to seize the organisation’s assets in a symbolic move as Wagner is not known to operate in Britain. Wagner cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea – illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 – and eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region in the aftermath of that act and has since dispatched troops to several conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, including the Syrian Civil War. The ban came into force following a recommendation by the parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs Committee in July that Wagner be outlawed. The committee said British authorities had “underplayed and underestimated” the threat posed by the mercenary group. The committee said Wagner’s future was uncertain after Prigozhin’s short-lived armed mutiny against Russia’s top military leaders in June. The lawmakers said Britain should take advantage of the confused situation to “disrupt” Wagner. Several other allies of Ukraine have sanctioned Wagner's leaders, and earlier this year, the Lithuanian and Estonian legislatures passed resolutions declaring it a terrorist organisation. The US has designated the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organisation. Read More With its leader dead, can the Wagner group rise and ride again? What next for the Wagner Group as leader presumed dead in plane crash? Ukraine-Russia war – live: ‘Significant losses’ for Putin’s forces as Kyiv retakes village and attacks ships The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Football's world governing body Fifa made false and misleading statements about the reduced environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a Swiss regulator said on Wednesday. The Swiss Fairness Commission, the self-regulatory body of the advertising and communications industry, made its determination after investigating five claims that Zurich-based Fifa marketed the tournament as being carbon neutral. The commission, which issues recommendations, but no state-enforceable judgements, advised Fifa from making unsubstantiated claims in future. It said complainants usually implement its recommendations voluntarily. Fifa did not respond to a request for comment. Complainants from Switzerland, France, Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands said Fifa made false statements in its communications about carbon neutrality at the World Cup, the commission said. "The Second Chamber of the Commission has now upheld all five complaints following a complex process," it added. Fifa had promoted the Qatar World Cup as the first completely climate-neutral tournament, saying it was committed to reducing and offsetting carbon emissions it generated. But the Climate Alliance, a network of groups which launched the complaint last year, was concerned about the environmental impact from the construction of air-conditioned stadiums and the thousands of fans who flew to the tournament. In its decision, the commission said it should not be claimed that sustainability goals have been achieved if there are no definitive and generally accepted methods for measuring them, or ensuring measures have been implemented. "Fifa was not able to provide proof that the claims were accurate during the proceedings as required by the commission," it said. Raphael Mahaim, from the group Lawyers for the Climate, said he was delighted with the ruling which he said exposed Fifa's greenwashing. "Fifa said it was taking the climate change seriously, and taking the credit for this, and this wasn’t true," he said. Fifa's claims were damaging because it meant companies and individuals scaling back their own action to reduce their carbon emissions because they thought Fifa had offset them. "Ultimately, false claims like this damage the campaign for carbon neutrality," said Mahaim, who is also a Swiss MP for the Green Party. Reuters Read More Everything wrong with the Qatar World Cup This is the side of the World Cup that Qatar would prefer you ignore The man who was jailed after working on Qatar’s World Cup Newcastle owners take majority stakes in four Saudi clubs including Al Nassr Sarina Wiegman frustrated over timing of players being released for World Cup Women’s World Cup faces ‘betrayal’ of European TV blackout

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