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Noel Le Graet, president of the French Football Federation, became the first senior football official to propose excluding Russia from the World Cup qualifiers, after the invasion of Ukraine, in conjunction with the refusal of the national teams to play the World Cup qualifiers with Russia.
Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic refused to face Russia next month in the qualifying play-off for the World Cup in Qatar during the next November and December.
Le Graet told the French newspaper (Le Parisien) on Sunday, when asked if Russia should be excluded from the tournament, “This is the first motivation for me. The world of sports, and football in particular, cannot remain neutral. Of course I will not object to the exclusion of the tournament.” Russia”.
Le Graet called on FIFA to take the decision.
It is noteworthy that Le Graet (80 years old) was a member of the FIFA Council, when it was decided to entrust the organization of the last edition of the World Cup in 2018 to Russia.
The European Football Association (UEFA) had deprived Saint Petersburg of hosting the Champions League final and awarded it to the French capital, Paris, and decided to hold the continental matches of Russia and Ukraine on neutral ground.
The International Olympic Committee also called on all sports federations to move or cancel scheduled events in Russia and Belarus because these two countries violated the Olympic truce.
Czechs refuse to play World Cup qualifiers with Russia
In a related context, the Czech Football Association said on Sunday that the Czech Republic decided not to play against Russia in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, after Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.
The Czech decision comes after Poland and Sweden announced yesterday, Saturday, that they would not participate in the qualifiers for the finals to be held in Qatar with Russia, scheduled for next March, for the same reason.
“The executive committee of the federation unanimously approved a decision not to play the Czech national team, under any circumstances, for any possible match against the Russian team in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers,” the Czech Football Federation said.
The Federation added, “The Executive Committee of the Federation assigned Peter Vucek, President of the Federation, and Michel Walter, General Secretary, the task of talking to the International Federations (FIFA) and the European Union (UEFA) in connection with the decision of the Executive Committee not to play in any possible confrontation with Russia.”
Russia is scheduled to host Poland in the World Cup qualifiers semi-finals on March 24, and if its team advances, it will host Sweden or the Czech Republic in the final on March 29.
The Czech federation said it would not take part in this match even if it was moved to a neutral stadium and called for the Russian invasion to be halted as soon as possible.
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