Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the governing bodies of both national teams announced on Saturday that they will not play their World Cup qualifiers against Russia in March.
The playoff matches will take place in March to fill a spot in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and numerous Poland players, including captain Robert Lewandowski, have supported the move with social media posts.
“In light of the escalation of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, the Polish national team is not going to play a match against Russian Republic,” Poland’s Football Association chief Cezary Kulesza wrote on Twitter.
“This is the only right decision. We’re in talks with Swedish and Czech association to present a common position to FIFA.”
On March 24, Russia will host Poland in the semi-finals of their strand of the World Cup playoffs, and if its side progresses, it will face either Sweden or the Czech Republic in the Path B final on March 29.
The Swedish Football Association later said that their squad will not meet the Russians regardless of the location of the match.
“The illegal and deeply unjust invasion of Ukraine currently makes all football exchanges with Russia impossible,” Swedish Football Association chairman Karl-Erik Nilsson said.
“We therefore urge FIFA to decide that the playoff matches in March in which Russia participates will be cancelled. But regardless of what FIFA chooses to do, we will not play against Russia in March.”
Earlier, Polish national team players took to social media to express their support for the move.
“It is not an easy decision, but there are more important things in life than football,” Kamil Glik, Mateusz Klich, Matty Cash and others wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
“Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian nation and our friend from the national team, Tomasz Kedziora, who is still in Kiev with his family.”
National team captain Lewandowski tweeted: “I can’t imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues.”
“Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can’t pretend that nothing is happening.”