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Poland refuses to play with Russia in World Cup qualifiers

Due to the Russian invasion on Ukraine, Poland will not play the World Cup qualifying match with Russia that was scheduled for March 24, 2022, announced Cezary Klesza, the Head of the Polish Football Association.

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. We are in talks with ?? and ?? federations to bring forward a joint statement to FIFA.

— Cezary Kulesza (@Czarek_Kulesza) February 26, 2022

Mr. Kulesza added that “on behalf of the Polish FA, I have offered that as a federation, we will help to organize matches of the Ukrainian national team on the territory of Poland, if such a need arises. Ukraine has accepted our offer.”

Polish National Team stands with Ukraine

On Saturday, members of the Polish national football team published a joint statement announcing that “as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, we do not intend to play in the play-off match against Russia. It is not an easy decision, but there are more important things in life than football. Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian nation and our friend from the national team, Tomasz Kędziora, who is still in Kiev with his family.”

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— Kamil Glik (@kamilglik25) February 26, 2022

On Friday, Robert Lewandowski, the captain of the Polish national team, tweeted:

“Everything beautiful in sport is contrary to what a war brings. For all people who appreciate freedom and peace this is a time for solidarity with the victims of the military aggression in Ukraine. As the Captain of the National Team, I will talk with my colleagues from the Team about the match with Russia, to develop a common stand in this matter, and present it as soon as possible to the Head of the Polish Football Association”.

pic.twitter.com/G8SZ3ihk4S

— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) February 25, 2022

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he was proud of the national team for supporting Ukraine in this difficult time.

“I am very proud and grateful to the leaders of our football national team, and to the head of the Polish FA, for supporting Ukraine and for their unanimous refusal to play with Russia in Moscow. There are situations, where calculations do not pay off, and one must take a stand on the right side, against evil,” emphasized the PM.

Polish, Swedish and Czech team unite

On Thursday, the Polish, Swedish, and Czech Football Associations, in a joint statement submitted to FIFA, announced that due to the Russian aggression on Ukraine, they were not considering traveling to Russia and playing World Cup qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar Championships, there.

This decision is important as the winner of the Polish-Russian game would have faced the winner of the Sweden-Czech Republic match. Since Poland has refused to play, Russia could have been announced a walkover winner and proceed to the next playoff game.

On Friday, the European Football Association (UEFA) decided to move the matches of the Russian and Ukrainian national teams and club to neutral ground, however the decision does not pertain to the World Cup play offs, as these are under the jurisdiction of FIFA, the spokesman of the Polish FA, Jakub Kwiatkowski explained.

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