Orange women after a failed boycott against Belarus: ‘Don’t want to give up the World Cup’ NOW

With a heavy heart, the Orange women will play the World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Tuesday. Because a boycott of the KNVB failed and the players did not want to give up the World Cup ticket for this, the team of national coach Mark Parsons is still taking action against the country that supports the Russian war against Ukraine. There are no public and festivities.

“If footballers don’t, if people do.” The answer from captain Sari van Veenendaal to the question whether the World Cup qualifier against Belarus is a struggle for the Orange Women, exposes the players’ dilemma in one sentence.

The Orange Women would rather never have played against Belarus, because the country supports Russian warfare in Ukraine. But after a failed boycott of the KNVB, there is no other option for Parsons’ team.

As the only football association in the world, the KNVB refused to play against both Russia and Belarus from the end of February. Russia was banned from all international matches by UEFA and FIFA, but Belarus was allowed to continue playing football as long as the home matches were played outside the national borders and without spectators.

This put the KNVB in a difficult position: Belarus is one of the opponents of the Orange Women in the qualifying series for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and not playing meant a regulatory defeat. That would have cost the Netherlands a direct World Cup placement.

The Orange Women refused to play against Belarus on April 12. Because competitor Iceland did that five days earlier and consultations with UEFA yielded nothing, the KNVB withdrew the boycott against Belarus at the beginning of May. “We did not want to risk the World Cup ticket for this”, Van Veenendaal explains the turn of the KNVB. As a member of the players’ council, she was involved in the decision-making process.

No anthems and spectators

The Orange women will play against Belarus on Tuesday, but the game in the FC Twente stadium looks a lot like a ghost match. The national anthems of both countries are not played, the public is not welcome and there is no press conference afterwards.

“We do not want to pay any attention to this match. We believe that this match should not be rewarded with the presence of an audience,” said Van Veenendaal. The KNVB wrote in a statement that “the regime in Belarus should not look forward to international sports competitions”.

Van Veenendaal emphasizes that she will be on the field as a football player on Tuesday. For that reason, the Orange Women do not make a statement against Belarus. “We are there purely as professionals and will carry out our work. Then we will do the best we can and with our heart.”

The game with Belarus starts on Tuesday at 8.45 PM in Enschede. With a win, the Orange Women will take over the lead in the group from Iceland. The big competitor for the World Cup ticket is the opponent on September 6 on the last and decisive day of the qualifying series.

Only the group winner qualifies directly for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The number two is sentenced to the play-offs, in which nine teams compete for two tickets. The Orange Women reached the World Cup final three years ago. In that, the United States was too strong 2-0.