The Polish national football no longer wants to play the play-off match for the World Cup qualifying against Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish football federation president Cezary Kulesza said on Saturday.
The two sides are set to go head-to-head on March 24 – with the game scheduled to take place in Moscow – with the winner going on to meet Sweden or Czech Republic. However due to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Poland are refusing to participate in the encounter.
No more words, time for action! Due to the escalation of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, the Polish national team is not planning to play the play-off game against Russia. This is the only right decision. We are in talks with the Swedish and Czech Republic federations to present a common position to FIFA.,” the federation president posted on his social media.
Polish national team players also took to social media to express their support for the move.
Poland striker Robert Lewandowski said he couldn’t “imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues”. “Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening,” he wrote on Twitter.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino admitted on Thursday that the governing body will discuss what to do about the upcoming World Cup qualifying games.
“We continue to monitor the situation,” he said on Thursday. “We will update on the World Cup qualifiers soon. We can take decisions immediately as soon as it’s needed.”
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