FIFA confirm Russia kicked out of Qatar World Cup as Poland given bye to playoff final

mirror.co.uk

FIFA have confirmed that Russia have been removed from the qualification process for the 2022 World Cup.

The decision comes in the wake of the country’s ongoing war in Ukraine, with Poland given a bye into the Path B playoff final on March 29.

Poland had been due to face Russia in the semi-final of the playoff process days earlier, but following the invasion of Ukraine the Polish FA and players made it clear that they did not want to face Russia.

Poland will now face either Sweden or the Czech Republic in the final.

A statement from FIFA read: “Subsequent to the decision of 28 February 2022 taken jointly with the UEFA Executive Committee to suspend all Russian teams from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice, the Bureau of the FIFA Organising Committee decided that Poland will receive a bye to the final of Path B due to take place on 29 March 2022, in which they will face the winners of the match between Sweden and the Czech Republic.

FIFA have also confirmed that the playoff semi-final between Ukraine and Scotland has been delayed, although the semi-final in that section between Wales and Austria will go ahead as planned.

“On 3 March 2022, the Ukrainian Association of Football wrote to FIFA requesting that its qualification match(es) be rescheduled owing to the impossibility of organising both the travel and training of a team under the current circumstances,” said FIFA.

“Following consultation with UEFA and the four participating member associations in Path A of the European qualifying play-offs, it was unanimously agreed in the spirit of solidarity to accept this request.

“The match between Scotland and Ukraine, initially scheduled for 24 March 2022, will now be postponed to the existing June window, and consequently, the match between the winners of Scotland v. Ukraine and Wales v. Austria will also be postponed to the same window.

“It was further agreed that the match between Wales and Austria will remain as scheduled on 24 March 2022, owing to the need to limit the disruption to the competitive matches already scheduled for the June window in what is an already congested calendar.

“Alternative fixtures for affected teams in the March window are being explored by the relevant parties. Similarly, the details of the rescheduled fixtures will be announced in due course and the international match calendar window of June will be adapted as necessary for the teams concerned once these details have been finalised.”

قنا

زيورخ: قرر الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم /فيفا/ اعتبار منتخب بولندا متأهلا لمواجهة الفائز من مباراة السويد والتشيك في ملحق التصفيات الأوروبية المؤهلة لكأس العالم FIFA قطر 2022.

وأكد /فيفا/، في بيان له، تأهل منتخب بولندا رسميا الى نهائي المسار الثاني من تصفيات الملحق المؤهل الى مونديال قطر 2022، وذلك على حساب روسيا التي أبعدها عن المنافسات الدولية.

وكان من المقرر أن تستضيف روسيا نظيرتها بولندا في 24 مارس الحالي، على أن يواجه المتأهل منهما الفائز من مواجهة السويد وتشيكيا في 29 منه، لكن /فيفا/ قرر استبعاد روسيا من مسابقاته الدولية بسبب غزوه لأوكرانيا.

وقال الفيفا في بيانه: “بعد القرار الصادر في 28 فبراير الذي تم اتخاذه بالاشتراك مع الاتحاد الاوروبي لكرة القدم والقاضي بتعليق مشاركة جميع الفرق الروسية في جميع مسابقات فيفا وويفا حتى اشعار آخر، قرر فيفا تأهل بولندا رسمياً الى نهائي الملحق المسار الثاني”.

كما قرر الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم تأجيل مواجهة إسكتلندا وأوكرانيا والتي كانت مقررة في 24 من الشهر أيضاً واقامتها في يونيو المقبل.

وأشار فيفا إلى أنه “تم تأجيل مباراة اسكتلندا وأوكرانيا لتقام في يونيو وبالتالي سيتم تأجيل المواجهة الثانية أيضاً ضمن هذا المسار بين ويلز والنمسا.”