Following the invasion of Ukraine, Poland and Sweden will not play Russia in the World Cup playoffs for the next year. Cezary Kulesza, the president of Poland’s soccer association, said the news on Saturday.
“No more words, it’s time to behave! In a tweet, he said that the Polish national team doesn’t want to play against Russia in a play-off match because of the rise in Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In talks: “We want to make a joint statement to FIFA.”
Poles were supposed to go to Moscow on March 24, and Ukraine was supposed to go to Scotland on the same day, too.
The winner of the game between Poland and Russia on March 29 would host either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29 in the last game of their World Cup qualifying route.
The Swedish Soccer Association (SVFF) said on Saturday that its board had decided that its men’s national team “won’t play a possible playoff match against Russia, no matter where the match is played.”
“The Federal Board also wants FIFA to cancel the play-off games in March in which Russia is participating,” the SVFF said.
The idea that FIFA won’t let us use our name is hard for us to believe. Russia can’t be a part of as long as this crazy keeps going, the Swedish FA said.
Robert Lewandowski, a Bayern Munich star and a striker for Poland, agreed with Kulesza. “It’s the right choice!
I can’t imagine playing a game with the Russian National Team if there is still fighting going on in Ukraine. People in Russia should not be to blame for this, but we won’t make it look like nothing is going on.
In both Polish and English, members of the Polish team made joint statements on social media. They agreed with their soccer team’s choice.
Because of Russia’s actions against Ukraine, “we, as well as the Polish Football Association, have decided not to play in the play-off match against Russia,” it said. “We don’t want to play against Russia.”
“It’s not an easy decision, but there are more important things in life than soccer.” Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people and our friend from the national team, Tomasz Kedziora, who is still in Kiev with his family.
The hashtags #SolidarnizUkraine (In solidarity with Ukraine) and #NoWarPlease were used to sign off on the claim.
Kedziora is a 27-year-old defender who played for Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine.
During a press conference on Thursday, the Polish football association said that it didn’t think that the qualifiers should be held in Russia.
According to what’s going on in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as how unsafe it is for people to play soccer there, the Soccer Associations of Poland, Sweden, and Czech Republic say that they don’t want to play any playoff games for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Russian soil.
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“The people who signed this enchantment don’t think about going to Russia and playing soccer there, though.” The military escalation that we’re seeing could have serious consequences for our national soccer teams and delegations. It could also make them less safe.
When these playoff matches are coming up, we want FIFA and UEFA to act quickly and come up with different ideas for where they could be held.
A rare meeting of UEFA’s Government Committee on Friday led to the decision that this year’s Champions League Final will no longer be held in St. Petersburg, where it had been scheduled.
In the original plan, the 2022 final was supposed to be held at Krestovsky Stadium, which is owned by Russia’s state-owned company Gazprom. Instead, it will be held at the Stade de France in Paris on May 28, which is the original date for the game.
In other places, some of Russia’s best athletes have been speaking out against the war in Ukraine, which they think is wrong.
World number one Daniil Medvedev said he’s “all for peace,” and Andrey Rublev wrote “No war, please” on the camera after winning a match. After a tennis match, many people write on the lens.
