Given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland officially announced that they will not participate in their World Cup play-off match against Russia next month.
If Russia defeats Poland, they will play the winner of Sweden v Czech Republic in a one-off showdown five days later to qualify for the Qatar showpiece, but Polish FA president Cezary Kulesza has announced that his side will not be participating in the tournament at all. “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.’
‘This is the only right decision. We are in talks with the Swedish and Czech Republic federations to present a common position to FIFA.’ Kulesza tweeted.
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
In response to Kulesza’s statement, Robert Lewandowski, the Polish striker who also captains his nation and plays for Germany’s most famed club, Bayern Munich, tweeted that the decision made is right and one can’t imagine playing with ” the Russian National Team,” in such circumstances.
The announcement comes just one day after the 3 governing bodies of Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic issued a unified statement requesting clarification on the Ukraine crisis, as well as rapid offers of “alternative options.”