It was reported last week that Ukraine had asked FIFA and UEFA to postpone their World Cup qualifying playoff match against Scotland scheduled to occur at Hampden Park on March 24 amid the Russian invasion.
Per Sky Sports and also Jacob Whitehead and Jordan Campbell of The Athletic, FIFA has stepped in and postponed that fixture.
The winner between Ukraine and Scotland will face either Wales or Austria, who will still meet on March 24, as planned, later this year. Scotland were scheduled to welcome Ukraine for a UEFA Nations League game during the June international window.
“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 vs. Ukraine and Wales vs. Austria will also be postponed to the same window,” FIFA explained in a statement released on Tuesday. “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.”
The Scottish Football Association and Football Association of Wales offered their support for FIFA’s ruling and for Ukraine in separate statements.
Russia were scheduled to face Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff on March 24 but have had their national teams and clubs suspended by UEFA and FIFA. As part of Tuesday’s announcements, FIFA awarded Poland a bye to the qualifying final, where they will play either Sweden or the Czech Republic pending the Russian Football Union’s appeal of the bans to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Per Graham Dunbar of The Associated Press, the World Cup finals tournament draw remains scheduled for April 1 even though only 29 nations will be confirmed for the competition at that time.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
