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The Polish, Swedish and Czech football federations announced today, Thursday, that Russia should not be allowed to host the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, next March, after its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is preparing – next March 24 – to host Poland in the semi-finals of the World Cup qualifiers, and if its team progresses, it will host Sweden or the Czech Republic in the final on the 29th of the same month.
“The federations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic express their firm position on the qualifying matches, and they should not be played on Russian soil,” the federations said in a joint statement.
“The military escalation that we are observing has serious consequences and less safety for our national teams and official delegations,” she added.
The trio called on the International Federation (FIFA) and the European Union (UEFA) to immediately intervene and provide alternative solutions regarding the venues of the playoff matches.
Sweden’s president, Karl-Erik Nilsson, told Reuters on Thursday that qualifying in Russia was “unthinkable”.
“As it seems now, there is definitely no desire to play a football match in Russia,” he added.
Russia is also scheduled to host the Champions League final this year, and UEFA called an emergency meeting of its executive committee on Friday to move the match from St Petersburg.
