The Football Associations of Sweden, Poland, and the Czech Republic released a joint statement appealing to the FIFA and UEFA to cancel their next scheduled World Cup Qualifying matches in Russia. In the joint statement, all three nations have asked the governing body 'to react quickly' to their concerns and also let the three nations know when and where the rescheduled matches will be played. All three nations were scheduled to play in the World Cup qualifiers next month.
A joint statement from the trio said they would not consider playing matches in Russia following president Vladimir Putin's decision to launch military action into neighbouring Ukraine, with all three insisting a neutral venue should be found.
"Based on the current alarming development in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including the security situation, the Football Associations of Poland (PZPN), Sweden (SvFF) and Czech Republic (FACR) express their firm position that the play-off matches to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scheduled for 24 and 29 March, should not be played in the territory of the Russian Federation," the joint statement read.
Poland was scheduled to play Russia on March 24 in Moscow whereas the Czech Republic was going to face Sweden on the very date but in Sweden. The winner of the POL vs RUS will be facing the winner of the latter aforementioned match in Moscow, Russia. But due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, all nations except Russia have submitted a request to change the venue. Ukrainian players will also be traveling to Scotland to play their World Qualifier knockout game and fight for the berth in Qatar.
