February 26, (THEWILL) –Â Robert Lewandowski and Cezary Kulesza, the president of the Polish Football Association, have stated that they will not play Russia in their qualifying match for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
THEWILL recalls that Russia invaded Ukraine again this week, forcing the imposition of sanctions by governments throughout the world, as well as business choices by sponsors to terminate links with Russia and condemnation from sports celebrities, among others.
The UEFA Champions League final, which was set to take place in St Petersburg this May, has been rescheduled for May in Paris, and Russian teams have been ruled out of European play. The Russian Grand Prix will not be held this year, with Turkey expected to take its place.
Taking to Twitter, Kulesza posted: “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 of the Republic of Poland vs Russia.
“This is the only right decision. We are in talks with the Sweden and Czech federations to present a common position to FIFA.”
Lewandowski, striker for Bayern Munich and the Polish national team, applauded the statement on Twitter as well, posting: “It is the right decision! 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.”
On March 24, Poland was scheduled to play in Moscow. There are no certainties at the moment what FIFA’s decision about that fixture will be.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
