Amid expressions of revulsion large and small over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s national soccer team has said it will forfeit a ...
Amid expressions of revulsion large and small over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s national soccer team has said it will forfeit a chance at the World Cup rather than play a scheduled match with Russia.
Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza said Saturday that his team will not play its scheduled March 24 match with Russia, according to ESPN.
“No more words, time to act!” Kulesza wrote, according to an English translation of his tweet.
“Due to the escalation of the aggression of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine, the Polish national team does not intend to play the play-off match against … Russia. This is the only right decision,” he wrote.
He said that Poland is talking with various soccer federations “to bring forward a common position to FIFA.” FIFA is the international governing body of soccer.
“It is the right decision!” Polish striker Robert Lewandowski tweeted.
“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,” he tweeted.
The Football Associations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic have said that they do not want any matches that are part of the 2020 World Cup playoffs to be played in Russia.
Others also acted to cut off Russia from the rest of the sports and entertainment world.
The International Olympic Committee called for all sports organizations to cancel any events in Russia or Belarus, according to Bloomberg.
Auto racing’s Formula 1 canceled the Russian Grand Prix.
“We are watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation,” the governing authority of Formula 1 racing said on its website.
The International Ski Federation said six upcoming events scheduled to take place in Russia will occur elsewhere “in the interest of the safety of all participants and to maintain the integrity of the World Cup.”
In music, the Eurovision Song Contest will ban Russian acts.
Geoff Meall, a London-based agent for Paradigm Agency, said entertainers will soon be canceling Russian shows, according to Variety.
“As it stands, I can’t see any of those shows being able to happen. Ukraine is an obviously an active war zone so it’s impossible to do a concert there, and with Russia, first, every government is advising its citizens not to go there unless it’s essential business — rock and roll probably wouldn’t be considered that — but more, a lot of artists wouldn’t want to be seen as supporting the actions of that government at the moment,” he said.
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