2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - UEFA Qualifiers

[KTChampions]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

Besides Poland, Sweden also has the same stance regards a potential match against Russia:

Sweden said on Saturday that they won't play Russia in a possible playoff "regardless of where the match is played."

Moreover, polish soccer federation is trying to reunite more and more nations under the same agreement they won't play Russia as well. That means an attempt to create pressure to make FIFA not allow Russia participate world cup even if they qualify.

Polish start Lewandowski, endorsed the national federation's views:

"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."

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4603139/poland-refuse-to-play-russia-in-2022-world-cup-playoff-game

A difficult situation for FIFA - on the one hand, they must adhere to the position that sport is allegedly out of politics (everyone knows that this is a lie), but on the other hand, I see the unanimity of the world sports community and FIFA cannot do anything if everyone is against it. It looks like Russian teams will be kicked out of most tournaments in the near future.

[Silver80]

A difficult situation for FIFA - on the one hand, they must adhere to the position that sport is allegedly out of politics (everyone knows that this is a lie), but on the other hand, I see the unanimity of the world sports community and FIFA cannot do anything if everyone is against it. It looks like Russian teams will be kicked out of most tournaments in the near future.

this could happen, but the paradigm of wanting to expel Russia by FIFA, don't be in a hurry, we remember when the USA le Iraq invasion around 2001 USA was still playing several sports debuts, it would be difficult to determine if they were a strong country like Russia.

[Sithara007]

this could happen, but the paradigm of wanting to expel Russia by FIFA, don't be in a hurry, we remember when the USA le Iraq invasion around 2001 USA was still playing several sports debuts, it would be difficult to determine if they were a strong country like Russia.

You have a point here. The western media supported the invasion whenever it was the United States and it's NATO allies who were doing it. During the last two decades, they have invaded countless countries including Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. But when Russia does the same, then hell breaks lose. I am not supporting Russia here, but they have every right to make sure that their neighboring country doesn't allow NATO missile launchers inside the territory. Now what decision FIFA may take is difficult to predict. They may suspend Russia from the qualifiers, or they may give them walkover.

[Silver80]

this could happen, but the paradigm of wanting to expel Russia by FIFA, don't be in a hurry, we remember when the USA le Iraq invasion around 2001 USA was still playing several sports debuts, it would be difficult to determine if they were a strong country like Russia.

You have a point here. The western media supported the invasion whenever it was the United States and it's NATO allies who were doing it. During the last two decades, they have invaded countless countries including Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. But when Russia does the same, then hell breaks lose. I am not supporting Russia here, but they have every right to make sure that their neighboring country doesn't allow NATO missile launchers inside the territory. Now what decision FIFA may take is difficult to predict. They may suspend Russia from the qualifiers, or they may give them walkover.

This anxiety is exacerbated when several countries are urging FIFA to take its stand as the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is approaching, this creates tremendous tension, the heat of this condition makes it interesting to observe.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-10554331/Poland-announce-REFUSE-play-against-Russia-months-World-Cup-play-offs.html

[alegotardo]

You have a point here. The western media supported the invasion whenever it was the United States and it's NATO allies who were doing it. During the last two decades, they have invaded countless countries including Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. But when Russia does the same, then hell breaks lose. I am not supporting Russia here, but they have every right to make sure that their neighboring country doesn't allow NATO missile launchers inside the territory. Now what decision FIFA may take is difficult to predict. They may suspend Russia from the qualifiers, or they may give them walkover.

But there is a huge difference in the invasions made by the US this time by Russia, in the first one it is clearly visible that the war was against organizations that are clearly declared to be terrorists and the objective was always to reestablish peace (we know that the interest is different, but we will not complicate).
In the case of Russia, however, they are attacking a country that has nothing to do with terrorists, its purely economic interest, what Russia is doing is shameful.
I feel sorry for the Russian people who are paying for the sanctions, but I support any and all restrictions against Russia, including FIFA.

[Daniel91]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

Besides Poland, Sweden also has the same stance regards a potential match against Russia:

Sweden said on Saturday that they won't play Russia in a possible playoff "regardless of where the match is played."

Moreover, polish soccer federation is trying to reunite more and more nations under the same agreement they won't play Russia as well. That means an attempt to create pressure to make FIFA not allow Russia participate world cup even if they qualify.

Polish start Lewandowski, endorsed the national federation's views:

"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."

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4603139/poland-refuse-to-play-russia-in-2022-world-cup-playoff-game

A difficult situation for FIFA - on the one hand, they must adhere to the position that sport is allegedly out of politics (everyone knows that this is a lie), but on the other hand, I see the unanimity of the world sports community and FIFA cannot do anything if everyone is against it. It looks like Russian teams will be kicked out of most tournaments in the near future.

I agree, a very difficult situation for FIFA.
In an ideal world, football, and any sport, should be separated from politics, but we know that this has not been the case for a long time.
Sport, especially football, is strongly associated with politics and business.
When the international community wants to send a message to a country that the political decisions of that country are unacceptable, then sport can become a legal way to send such a message, that every political decision provokes a reaction from the international public and causes certain consequences.
There is obviously strong pressure on FIFA's leadership and it is not difficult to predict what they will decide in the end.
The biggest victims in this story will be the footballers of the Russian national team, whose dreams of qualifying for the World Cup will be destroyed by a political decision, not on the football field.

[KTChampions]

A difficult situation for FIFA - on the one hand, they must adhere to the position that sport is allegedly out of politics (everyone knows that this is a lie), but on the other hand, I see the unanimity of the world sports community and FIFA cannot do anything if everyone is against it. It looks like Russian teams will be kicked out of most tournaments in the near future.

I agree, a very difficult situation for FIFA.
In an ideal world, football, and any sport, should be separated from politics, but we know that this has not been the case for a long time.
Sport, especially football, is strongly associated with politics and business.
When the international community wants to send a message to a country that the political decisions of that country are unacceptable, then sport can become a legal way to send such a message, that every political decision provokes a reaction from the international public and causes certain consequences.
There is obviously strong pressure on FIFA's leadership and it is not difficult to predict what they will decide in the end.
The biggest victims in this story will be the footballers of the Russian national team, whose dreams of qualifying for the World Cup will be destroyed by a political decision, not on the football field.

I think everything is predetermined and in the near future (most likely Monday-Tuesday) we will see the decisions of the officials. I see on the news that Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic have taken a hard line and will not participate in the matches even if FIFA does not sanction this boycott.
By the way, I'm from Russia myself and I don't worry about the dreams of Russian football players at all - there are more important things. Now there is a war going on and they could be more active in trying to stop it. Some of our athletes have already made anti-war statements, but I don't see footballers among them.

[Polkeins]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

Besides Poland, Sweden also has the same stance regards a potential match against Russia:

Sweden said on Saturday that they won't play Russia in a possible playoff "regardless of where the match is played."

Moreover, polish soccer federation is trying to reunite more and more nations under the same agreement they won't play Russia as well. That means an attempt to create pressure to make FIFA not allow Russia participate world cup even if they qualify.

Polish start Lewandowski, endorsed the national federation's views:

"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."

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4603139/poland-refuse-to-play-russia-in-2022-world-cup-playoff-game

A difficult situation for FIFA - on the one hand, they must adhere to the position that sport is allegedly out of politics (everyone knows that this is a lie), but on the other hand, I see the unanimity of the world sports community and FIFA cannot do anything if everyone is against it. It looks like Russian teams will be kicked out of most tournaments in the near future.

I agree, a very difficult situation for FIFA.
In an ideal world, football, and any sport, should be separated from politics, but we know that this has not been the case for a long time.
Sport, especially football, is strongly associated with politics and business.
When the international community wants to send a message to a country that the political decisions of that country are unacceptable, then sport can become a legal way to send such a message, that every political decision provokes a reaction from the international public and causes certain consequences.
There is obviously strong pressure on FIFA's leadership and it is not difficult to predict what they will decide in the end.
The biggest victims in this story will be the footballers of the Russian national team, whose dreams of qualifying for the World Cup will be destroyed by a political decision, not on the football field.

Well, I wouldn't worry about Russian football players, they are quite rich people. They live different lives from other people, earning millions, while most people make ends meet with hard work.
Given that they like to constantly travel to Europe and the United States and spend money there, it is understandable why they are silent in this situation. As soon as they say something against the war, they will immediately lose their contracts, and no one except Gazprom and other oil companies will pay them that kind of money.

Well, for FIFA, this is a sore point. This is not Iraq, not North Korea, not the other end of the world, where you can do anything, this is Europe, there are too many pain points here.

[Polkeins]

Have you heard that Poland is not going to fly to Russia (due to the war) and play a play-off? Moreover, they do not demand anything, they agree to a technical defeat 3-0, just not to play with Russia. Radical decision. I wonder how FIFA will resolve this situation, it seems to me that this is a big scandal even considering external circumstances.

Besides Poland, Sweden also has the same stance regards a potential match against Russia:

Sweden said on Saturday that they won't play Russia in a possible playoff "regardless of where the match is played."

Moreover, polish soccer federation is trying to reunite more and more nations under the same agreement they won't play Russia as well. That means an attempt to create pressure to make FIFA not allow Russia participate world cup even if they qualify.

Polish start Lewandowski, endorsed the national federation's views:

"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."

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4603139/poland-refuse-to-play-russia-in-2022-world-cup-playoff-game

A difficult situation for FIFA - on the one hand, they must adhere to the position that sport is allegedly out of politics (everyone knows that this is a lie), but on the other hand, I see the unanimity of the world sports community and FIFA cannot do anything if everyone is against it. It looks like Russian teams will be kicked out of most tournaments in the near future.

I agree, a very difficult situation for FIFA.
In an ideal world, football, and any sport, should be separated from politics, but we know that this has not been the case for a long time.
Sport, especially football, is strongly associated with politics and business.
When the international community wants to send a message to a country that the political decisions of that country are unacceptable, then sport can become a legal way to send such a message, that every political decision provokes a reaction from the international public and causes certain consequences.
There is obviously strong pressure on FIFA's leadership and it is not difficult to predict what they will decide in the end.
The biggest victims in this story will be the footballers of the Russian national team, whose dreams of qualifying for the World Cup will be destroyed by a political decision, not on the football field.

Well, I wouldn't worry about Russian football players, they are quite rich people. They live different lives from other people, earning millions, while most people make ends meet with hard work.
Given that they like to constantly travel to Europe and the United States and spend money there, it is understandable why they are silent in this situation. As soon as they say something against the war, they will immediately lose their contracts, and no one except Gazprom and other oil companies will pay them that kind of money.

Well, for FIFA, this is a sore point. This is not Iraq, not North Korea, not the other end of the world, where you can do anything, this is Europe, there are too many pain points here.

This is a very difficult decision for FIFA, because this is a superpower, it is difficult to make a decision. If the countries are small it's easy for FIFA. Maybe what will happen if the war continues until the World Cup is held, I think many countries when dealing with Russia they will not play a form of resistance and support for Ukraine.
but if the 3rd world war occurs I don't think the world cup can be held for everyone's safety.

I think in the case of the 3rd World War, the play-offs for the World Cup will no longer be particularly interesting.
There is really big money and serious interests for FIFA, otherwise they would have been removed long ago.
I think to limit myself to playing on a neutral field, without spectators, a flag and without an anthem.
Of course, if everything continues for another two weeks, then Russia will probably be removed under pressure and replaced by one of those who did not pass the selection earlier.

[joker_josue]

I think in the case of the 3rd World War, the play-offs for the World Cup will no longer be particularly interesting.
There is really big money and serious interests for FIFA, otherwise they would have been removed long ago.
I think to limit myself to playing on a neutral field, without spectators, a flag and without an anthem.
Of course, if everything continues for another two weeks, then Russia will probably be removed under pressure and replaced by one of those who did not pass the selection earlier.

If we enter this dramatic phase, I think that even the issue of holding the World Cup will begin to be questioned, for security reasons. Qatar is not exactly the friendliest country to Europe and the USA, so I don't know if it will be a good place for this type of event.

We can say that even during the second world war, sporting events took place worldwide. But today we are at a very different social level and media attention is at a much higher level, which can jeopardize the event being held in a safe way for athletes and fans.

[Sirait]

In the case of Russia, however, they are attacking a country that has nothing to do with terrorists, its purely economic interest, what Russia is doing is shameful.
I feel sorry for the Russian people who are paying for the sanctions, but I support any and all restrictions against Russia, including FIFA.

Even though almost all Russian citizens don't want this war to happen, the sanctions that are given cannot be avoided by Russia. besides poland and sweden, I'm sure there will be many more countries calling for a boycott of russia from the world cup qualifiers. Russia should accept it.

[Polkeins]

In the case of Russia, however, they are attacking a country that has nothing to do with terrorists, its purely economic interest, what Russia is doing is shameful.
I feel sorry for the Russian people who are paying for the sanctions, but I support any and all restrictions against Russia, including FIFA.

Even though almost all Russian citizens don't want this war to happen, the sanctions that are given cannot be avoided by Russia. besides poland and sweden, I'm sure there will be many more countries calling for a boycott of russia from the world cup qualifiers. Russia should accept it.

Sad but truth. Now the only question seems to be how tough the sanctions will be.
It is clear that they will not only affect football. The 2022 World Cup is apparently only the beginning, if you are very lucky and they let you play the play-offs (which is a big question), then you still have to win these play-offs. Given the situation, this will not be easy.
It will not be easy for football players to enter the field, realizing that everyone is rooting against you.

[cygan]

In the case of Russia, however, they are attacking a country that has nothing to do with terrorists, its purely economic interest, what Russia is doing is shameful.
I feel sorry for the Russian people who are paying for the sanctions, but I support any and all restrictions against Russia, including FIFA.

Even though almost all Russian citizens don't want this war to happen, the sanctions that are given cannot be avoided by Russia. besides poland and sweden, I'm sure there will be many more countries calling for a boycott of russia from the world cup qualifiers. Russia should accept it.

Sad but truth. Now the only question seems to be how tough the sanctions will be.
It is clear that they will not only affect football. The 2022 World Cup is apparently only the beginning, if you are very lucky and they let you play the play-offs (which is a big question), then you still have to win these play-offs. Given the situation, this will not be easy.
It will not be easy for football players to enter the field, realizing that everyone is rooting against you.

fifa has now announced the restrictions against the russian national team:

no international competitions will be played on russian territory and "home" matches will be played on neutral territory and without fans
the russian national team will play as the russian football association
the russian flag and anthem will not be used during matches involving the russian football association

everyone can now make his own opinion about the corrupt fifa

[alegotardo]

fifa has now announced the restrictions against the russian national team:

no international competitions will be played on russian territory and "home" matches will be played on neutral territory and without fans
the russian national team will play as the russian football association
the russian flag and anthem will not be used during matches involving the russian football association

everyone can now make his own opinion about the corrupt fifa

Well, I liked FIFA's "sanctions".
It's nothing very relevant, but considering that Russian football has little reason to be penalized, this is a symbolic way that FIFA has found to at least "annoy" the Russian government and say that in every corner of the world , whatever the context, they will be frowned upon.

[coolcoinz]

fifa has now announced the restrictions against the russian national team:

no international competitions will be played on russian territory and "home" matches will be played on neutral territory and without fans
the russian national team will play as the russian football association
the russian flag and anthem will not be used during matches involving the russian football association

everyone can now make his own opinion about the corrupt fifa

It's a joke. You will change name and play with no anthem, so that nobody knows you are Russian
Why don't they let banned players play under condition that they change their names and teams?
Lost drivers license? Change your name and car and you can keep driving!

I've read that regardless of FIFA's decision Poland will not play against Russia if the war continues.
FIFA doesn't care if Russia is a superpower or not, they want money and no match means no money.

[Sithara007]

National football association of Poland has issued a statement, confirming that they will refuse to play against Russia even at neutral venues. Poland and it's allies are unhappy with FIFA's decision regarding Russia. The playoff matches are scheduled in a few weeks from now, and in case these nations refuse to play against Russia, then the latter will automatically gain qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Russia vs Poland match is scheduled to take place on 24th March. If they win, Russia will face either Sweden or Czechia on 29th March.

[Sirait]

Even though almost all Russian citizens don't want this war to happen, the sanctions that are given cannot be avoided by Russia. besides poland and sweden, I'm sure there will be many more countries calling for a boycott of russia from the world cup qualifiers. Russia should accept it.

Sad but truth. Now the only question seems to be how tough the sanctions will be.
It is clear that they will not only affect football. The 2022 World Cup is apparently only the beginning, if you are very lucky and they let you play the play-offs (which is a big question), then you still have to win these play-offs. Given the situation, this will not be easy.
It will not be easy for football players to enter the field, realizing that everyone is rooting against you.

Playing under pressure and ridicule is certainly very distracting, I'm sure even Russian players won't be able to deal with that easily. Everyone must still hope that things will return to normal, so that boycotts from other countries that refuse to play with Russia can be canceled.

[joker_josue]

Playing under pressure and ridicule is certainly very distracting, I'm sure even Russian players won't be able to deal with that easily. Everyone must still hope that things will return to normal, so that boycotts from other countries that refuse to play with Russia can be canceled.

This would only happen if Russia seems to invade Ukraine, which would be very good for everyone.
Even after that, I believe that these teams don't want to go to Russia to play, so the games would have to be played on neutral grounds.

[Mr.Scott]

fifa has now announced the restrictions against the russian national team:

no international competitions will be played on russian territory and "home" matches will be played on neutral territory and without fans
the russian national team will play as the russian football association
the russian flag and anthem will not be used during matches involving the russian football association

everyone can now make his own opinion about the corrupt fifa

It's a joke. You will change name and play with no anthem, so that nobody knows you are Russian
Why don't they let banned players play under condition that they change their names and teams?
Lost drivers license? Change your name and car and you can keep driving!

I've read that regardless of FIFA's decision Poland will not play against Russia if the war continues.
FIFA doesn't care if Russia is a superpower or not, they want money and no match means no money.

Boycott Russia from football another sanctions taken by FIFA. Rivals national football association won't play Russia as protest, so their qualifying process goes into chaos. FIFA mustn't be engaged with political driven issues rather than relaxation and sports. Sometimes humanity has no boundaries among political and social circles.

[KTChampions]

Breaking - FIFA set to suspend Russian teams from international football until further notice. Confirmation of decision expected later today.

As I understand yesterday, FIFA tried to smooth the situation by allowing the Russian team to play on a neutral field and under a neutral flag, but the tough position of the Polish team and other teams ruined this plan. Leaks say that the decision has been made now (to exclude Russia from the competition) and will soon be officially announced.
The Olympic Committee also recommended that the federations exclude the teams of Russia and Belarus from various competitions.