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    Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic FA call for Russia to be stripped of World Cup play-off matches

    Planet Sport writerStaff Writer24 February 2022
    Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic want Russia stripped of hosting World Cup playoff-matches

    Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic want Russia stripped of hosting World Cup playoff-matches

    Following calls for Russia's hosting of the Champions League final to be stripped, Poland Sweden and the Czech Republic have added that the nation shouldn't host World Cup play-off matches.

    Poland are set to play Russia on March 24, with the winner of the clash set to take on either Sweden or the Czech Republic.

    But, in light of the ongoing situation between Russia and Ukraine, the football associations of Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic have come together to release a joint statement calling for World Cup play-off matches to be played elsewhere.

    The statement was issued on Thursday afternoon and read:

    "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 Cup 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 do 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 playoff matches could be played."
    Scotland are also in talks ahead of their World Cup play-off match vs Ukraine, scheduled to take place on March 24.
    The statement follows on from calls to move the Champions League final away from St Petersburg, where the May 28 final is currently scheduled to take place.
    As a result, UEFA announced that they have called an 'extraordinary meeting' in order to "evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions".
    UEFA's statement read, "Following the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine in the last 24 hours, the UEFA president has decided to call an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee for Friday 25 February at 10:00 CET (09:00 GMT), in order to evaluate the situation and take all necessary decisions."

    READ MORE: Extraordinary meeting called by UEFA as pressure grows to move Champions League final

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