The Football Associations of Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic have released a joint statement saying they do not want to play next month’s World Cup play-offs in Russia.
Russia are scheduled to play Poland in Moscow, with the winners playing either Sweden or Czech Republic.
But the three teams involved have released a statement expressing their ‘firm position’ to not play in Russia.
It reads: “Based on the current alarming development in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine including the security situation, the Football Associations of Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic express their firm position that the play-off matches to qualify for the 2022 Fifa World CXup in Qatar, scheduled for 24 and 29 March 2022 should not be played in the territory of the Russian Federation.
“The signatories to this appeal to not consider travelling to Russia and playing football matches there.
“The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations.
“Therefore, we expect Fifa and Uefa to react immediately and to present alternative solutions regarding places where these approaching play-offs can take place.”
Football stars across the globe have since reacted to the chaos that’s being witnessed in Eastern Europe.
Manchester City defender, Oleksandr Zinchenko, former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko and Russia’s Fyodor Smolovare are among the prominent sporting stars from Russia to have called for solidarity within their country as political tension in the region escalates.
Russia begun a large-scale attack on its Eastern European neighbour, with military convoys entering Ukrainian soil from all directions on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.
Explosions have been heard across the nation, with Putin stating that resistance from outside powers will be met with an “instant” response.
