STOCKHOLM – Sweden will not play Russia in the 2022 World Cup play-offs because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the football federation said yesterday.
Sweden would have to beat the Czech Republic and Russia to overcome Poland for them to face each other on March 29 in Russia.
“Whatever FIFA decide, we will not play against Russia in March,” Karl-Erik Nilsson, president of the federation, said in a statement.
Earlier yesterday the Poles said they would not play the Russians in Moscow – which hosted the World Cup final only four years ago – on March 24 for the same reason.
The Polish and Swedish federations had issued a statement along with the Czechs on Thursday – the day the invasion began – demanding FIFA play the matches away from Russia.
FIFA did not react to the latest Polish move when approached by AFP.
The Czech Football Association, meanwhile, said it would wait for the FIFA move before taking the final decision on whether the Czechs would face Russia.
“Under these circumstances, it is almost impossible to imagine we’d play the game, and we are most likely to follow the Polish and Swedish scenarios, but we cannot bypass the procedural steps,” Czech FA chief Petr Fousek said in a statement.
On Thursday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino had said they hoped the “situation (the conflict between Ukraine and Russia) will be resolved by then” but they could make a decision at “any moment.”
In a separate development, the Swedish Government said they were going to try and persuade the other 27 European Union states to impose a blanket sporting ban on Russia for “as long as the invasion of Ukraine lasts”.
“The most important thing is that the Russian aggression ceases,” said Swedish Sports Minister Anders Ygeman in a statement.
“If the EU decides on a sporting boycott, that will help achieve this target.”
The Swedes are proposing a boycott of all competitions being hosted in Russia and that no Russian athlete be allowed to compete in the European Union. – AFP, February 27, 2022
