The Czech Republic national team joined Poland and Sweden on Sunday in declaring its refusal to play Russia in upcoming World Cup qualifying matches, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The schedule calls for the Czechs to meet Sweden and Russia to face Poland on March 24. The winners of the two games will play on March 29 for a berth in the 2022 World Cup, to be held this fall in Qatar.
“The Czech FA executive committee, staff members and players of the national team agreed it’s not possible to play against the Russian national team in the current situation, not even on the neutral venue,” the Czech soccer federation said in a statement. “We all want the war to end as soon as possible.”
"The Czech FA executive committee, staff members and players of the national team agreed it's not possible to play against the Russian national team in the current situation, not even on the neutral venue.
We all want the war to end as soon as possible." pic.twitter.com/NQK6YGNoHJ
— Czech Football National Team (@ceskarepre_eng) February 27, 2022
The soccer federations of Poland and Sweden announced their intentions on Saturday.
In other news Sunday, FIFA — soccer’s world governing body — did not immediately ban Russia from Cup qualifying but said the action hasn’t been ruled out. Instead, FIFA agreed on measures that would take effect for Russia’s qualifying playoff next month.
FIFA decided to ban Russia’s name, flag and anthem and select a neutral site for its games. Russia now will use the RFU acronym of its football federation, the Russian Football Union.
“FIFA will continue its ongoing dialogue with the IOC, UEFA and other sport organizations to determine any additional measures or sanctions, including a potential exclusion from competitions, that shall be applied in the near future should the situation not be improving rapidly,” FIFA said Sunday in a news release. “The Bureau of the FIFA Council remains on standby to take any of these decisions.”
–Field Level Media
