Poland has made clear it will refuse to play Russia in a World Cup qualifying match next month, in a move backed by its star player Robert Lewandowski.
The President of Poland’s Football Association (FA) Cezary Kulesza said on Saturday that this was the “only right decision” in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has faced several consequences in the sporting world within the first three days of its war with Ukraine, including this year’s Formula 1 race in Sochi being cancelled and UEFA moving the Champion’s League final from St Petersburg to Paris.
Mr Kulesza said on Twitter: “No more words, time to act. Due to the escalation of 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 Swedish and Czech federations to bring forward a joint statement to Fifa.”
Retweeting the post, Mr Lewandowski added: “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.”
The Polish FA said in a statement that the entire team supported the move: “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 Kyiv with his family.”
Several other players on the Polish national team retweeted the posts with their own messages of support for the refusal to play the match that was due to take place on 24 March.
The winner of the qualifier is due to host Sweden or the Czech Republic on 29 March for a place at the World Cup.
However, football authority Fifa has yet to take a clear position on Russia hosting or even playing against Poland.
European soccer body Uefa said Friday that in its competitions, all Russian and Ukrainian teams must now move their home games to play in other countries.
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