POLAND REFUSES TO PLAY RUSSIA IN OPPOSITION TO UKRAINE INVASION
Poland announced Saturday morning that their international team will not play next month’s World Cup play-off match against Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The match slated for the 24th of March was scheduled to be played at the VTB Arena, Dinamo Lev Yashin Stadium in Moscow. The winners of the game would then face one of Sweden or the Czech Republic five days later for a place in the World Cup in Qatar in November.
Cezary Kulesza, the President of the Polish Football Association, said, “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 the Republic of Russia. This is the only right decision.” Kulesza also revealed that the Polish FA was in talks with the Swedish and Czech Republic federations to present a common position to FIFA. Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic are involved in Path B of the European playoffs. The Czech face Sweden at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on the 24th of next month.
The Polish FA has also offered to host Ukraine’s home matches in Poland while Ukraine are unable to play in their own country. Polish FA president Kulesza revealed that Ukraine had accepted the proposal after a meeting with Ukrainian FA president Andriy Pawelko and cooperation with Ukraine minister of sport Kamil Bortniczuk. Ukraine plays Scotland in a Path A World Cup playoff match at Hampden Park in Glasgow on March 24th. The winner plays either Wales or Austria in Cardiff or Vienna on the 29th.
Poland captain and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski echoed the stance of his Football Association saying: “It is the right decision! 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.”
Former Arsenal and current Juventus and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny took to Instagram to explain why he will not be playing against Russia. “Representing your country is the biggest honor in a footballer’s career,” said the 31-year-old. “I refuse to play against players who choose to represent the values and principles of Russia. I refuse to stand on the pitch wearing the colors of my country and listen to the national anthem of Russia. I refuse to take part in a sporting event that legitimizes the actions of the Russian government.”
Szczesny’s wife was born in Ukraine and has part of his family in Ukraine.
Poland players including former Monaco center-back Kamil Glik, Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich, and Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash posted a joint statement on social media revealing that the decision not to play the game against Russia was decided collectively by both players and the Polish FA. The statement read: “We, the players of the national Polish national team, together with the Polish Football Association, decided that as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, we do not intend to play in the playoff match against Russia.”
“It is not an easy decision but there are more important things in life than football. Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian nation and our friend from the national team, Tomasz Kedziora, who is still in Kiev with his family.”
The news comes only a day after the Polish, Czech, and Swedish federations released a statement jointly telling FIFA that they refuse to travel to Russia to play the World Cup playoff matches next month over safety concerns. All three federations wrote that they expected both FIFA and UEFA to react immediately and to present alternative solutions to where those matches could be played.
FIFA has yet to respond to the federations but had said in a statement on Thursday that it “condemns the use of force by Russia in Ukraine and any type of violence to resolve conflicts.” FIFA has said that it will continue to monitor the situation and updates regarding football matters in both Ukraine and Russia as all domestic football in Ukraine has been suspended for a period of 30 days.UEFA, however, became one of the first organizations to move towards a boycott of Russia when they moved the 2022 Champions League final from St Petersburg to Paris. A statement released on Friday after confirming the match would take place at 80,000-seat Stade de France instead of the 68,000-capacity Gazprom Arena said: “UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis.”
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero