Berlin (AP) – The Polish Football Association has asked the other European football associations to join the game boycott against Russia.
Because of the “shameful decision” of the world governing body FIFA, the Polish association has sent a letter to all football associations in Europe, association president Cezary Kulesza tweeted. “We presented our position and encouraged them to stand by our side. Because only united are we strong. No leniency to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
Against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the football associations of Denmark and Norway had also announced that they no longer wanted to play against Russia for the time being. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with the associations that have announced that they do not want to play Russia,” Danish Football Association boss Jakob Jensen told the Ritzau news agency. Like the Danish sports association DIF, Jensen advocated excluding Russia from all international sporting events.
The Denmark women’s national football team is in the same World Cup qualifying group as Russia. A game against Russia would have been scheduled for September. The Denmark U19s should have played Russia in just a few weeks.
FA President Terje Svendsen tweeted: “We agree with Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic that playing Russia is out of the question right now.”
The Swiss Football Association will also not play any more games against Russia for the time being. At the same time, they support the position of the associations in Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, “which demand the exclusion of the Russian men’s national team from the playoffs for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,” said the SFV. Out of solidarity, there will be no competitive and friendly matches against Russian national teams until further notice.
“This non-negotiable attitude of the SFV” extends “if necessary explicitly to the first game of the women’s national team at the European Championships in England on July 9 against Russia,” it said.
Previously, alongside Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic had announced that they would not play Russia in the playoffs for World Cup qualifying. Poland were drawn as opponents of Russia in the playoff semi-finals and should have played in Moscow at the end of March. The winner of this game would then have had home rights again against the winner of the Sweden-Czech Republic match.
Due to the invasion, Russia is no longer allowed to host international football competitions on its own territory, the world governing body FIFA decided on Sunday. Home games of the Sbornaja should therefore only take place on neutral ground and without spectators. At the same time, FIFA threatened to ban the country completely if the situation didn’t improve quickly.