Poland Football Association President Cezary Kulesza has lashed out at the football governing body FIFA for its ‘unacceptable’ decision on Russia after the country invaded a sovereign country, Ukraine.
Elsewhere, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have refused to play their World Cup qualifying matches against Russia in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s decision to wage a bloody war on Ukraine, leaving thousands killed and millions displaced.
Kulesza said, “Today’s FIFA decision is totally unacceptable.”
According to Goal.com, Kulesza said, “We are not interested in participating in this game of appearances. Our stance remains intact: Polish national team will not play with Russia, no matter what the name of the team is.”
Russia are scheduled to face Poland before facing the winner of the match between the Czech Republic and Sweden if they win. These matches are scheduled to take place in March.
Swedish FA president Karl-Erik Nilsson, as reported by the BBC, told Fotbollskanalen that his country too was ‘not satisfied’ with Fifa’s decision.
He said, “Our opinion is not different today and the situation has not changed in Ukraine just because we have received the message from Fifa, so we have no other opinion today.
“We also want to talk to Poland and the Czech Republic so that we can give back to Fifa what we think, but we had expected a sharper stance from Fifa. We would have done so.”
English Football Association too had said on Sunday that they will not play any international matches against Russia at any level following the invasion of Ukraine.
FIFA had earlier told Russia to complete their upcoming games in neutral territory under the name the Football Union of Russia without their flag and anthem following the invasion of Ukraine. This has enraged football associations and fans around the world as they felt that FIFA had disrespected the victims of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.