Producers of the World Cup FIFA announced today that the Russian national soccer team will be allowed to compete in World Cup qualifying games.
The announcement comes as Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic have stated that they would not play any qualification matches against Russia.
FIFA will allow Russia to play, but will not allow the Russian flag or national song to be displayed.
The team will also be designated as the Football Union of Russia. The organization added that it will not allow any games in Russia itself, but will schedule for neutral territories.
FIFA is under increasing pressure to exclude Russia from the World Cup qualifying rounds. Today, the Czech Republic joined the boycott of Ukraine's invaders, declaring that they will not face Russia on the field.
They join Poland and Sweden in pledging not to play Russia in the upcoming matches, which begin next month.
The Czech Republic is scheduled to play Sweden on March 24th, according to the current schedule. The winner of the Poland-Russia match would then face the winner of the Poland-Russia match.
The Czech Republic has already issued a statement on its Twitter account claiming that "playing against the Russian national team is not possible."
The fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, as Poland and Sweden have said they will refuse to play Russia in World Cup qualifying playoff matches.
The FIFA World Cup is the Super Bowl of soccer. Played every four years, it brings the top 32 national teams together in a month-long tournament. The next edition is scheduled for the end of this year in Qatar, moved off its traditional summer months because of the host country’s hot weather in that season. Qualifying matches to become one of the 32 teams are taking place starting next month.
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 Russia,” Polish football association president Cezary Kulesza tweeted early Saturday morning. “We are in talks with (Swedish) and (Czech) federations to bring forward a joint statement to FIFA.”
Polish president Andrzej Duda replied to the tweet, saying: “And rightly so, Mr. President. You don’t play with bandits!”’
Poland was scheduled to play Russia in Moscow on March 24. The winner of that game was set to play the winner of a Sweden-Czech Republic match on March 29 for a spot in the World Cup.
“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,” sstriker Robert Lewandowski tweeted. “Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening.
