Warsaw, 27 February 2022 (TDI): Poland and Sweden have refused to play with Russia in the 2022 World Cup qualifier playoff matches in response to the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.
Polish boycott:
The President of the Polish Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, took it to Twitter on Saturday to announce that “the Polish National Team does not intend to play the play-off match against Russia”. He further shared that Poland was in talks with Sweden and the Czech republic to bring forward a joint statement to FIFA.
No more words, time to act! Due to the escalation of the aggression of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine the Polish national team does not intend to play the play-off match against Russia. We are in talks with 🇸🇪 and 🇨🇿 federations to bring forward a joint statement to FIFA.
— Cezary Kulesza (@Czarek_Kulesza) February 26, 2022
The captain of the Polish team also supported the decision of the association declaring it “the right decision”. He added, “I can’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.”
Słuszna decyzja! Nie wyobrażam sobie grania meczu z reprezentacją Rosji w sytuacji gdy trwa agresja zbrojna na Ukrainie. Rosyjscy piłkarze i kibice nie są za to odpowiedzialni, ale nie możemy udawać, że nic się nie dzieje. https://t.co/rfnfbXzdjF
— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) February 26, 2022
Swedish response:
Later on Saturday, the Swedish Football Association also announced that the country’s team will not play the match with Russia.
The tweet by the Swedish Football Association urged FIFA to make a decision about canceling the March matches in which Russia will participate. He further announced that regardless of the choice FIFA makes, Sweden will not play against Russia.
Karl-Erik Nilsson om beslutet att herrlandslaget inte kommer att spela mot Ryssland:
🗣️ “Vi uppmanar FIFA att fatta beslut om att de playoff-matcher i mars där Ryssland medverkar ställs in. Men oavsett vad FIFA väljer att göra kommer vi inte spela mot Ryssland i mars”.
— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) February 26, 2022
Russia is scheduled to play against Poland in the semi-finals of the World Cup Qualifiers match. If it wins the match, the team would play against either Sweden or the Czech Republic in the Path B finals.
FIFA’s stance:
FIFA’s position is also unclear as it has not made any decision about the matter yet. The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, on Thursday, expressed his shock at what was happening and said that FIFA “condones the use of force” but also stated that FIFA would not rush into making any decision about the future matches involving Russia.
