FIFA has officially qualified Poland for the next stage of the European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, after the exclusion of Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine.
With that, Poland will face the winner of the clash between Sweden and the Czech Republic, scheduled for March 29, to decide one of Europe’s vacancies in the Qatar World Cup.
FIFA has decided to ignore the appeal filed by the Russian Football Federation (RFS) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in which it asked for the revocation of the exclusion and the reinstatement of the Russian national team in the competition.
As a separate tournament between Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic is ruled out, or the inclusion of another team to take Russia’s place, the decision to automatically classify the Poles has been criticized by the Swedish Football Federation (SvFF).
“The most reasonable and fair sporting thing would be for Poland to have a new opponent in the bracket,” said SvFF president Hakan Sjöstrand.
“We understand that this is a new difficult puzzle for FIFA to solve, but the principle of playing under the same conditions is to play and win two games in the playoffs to reach the World Cup,” added Sjöstrand.
For Sweden coach Janne Anderson, the decision is “completely meaningless from a sporting point of view”, but his team must keep its focus on the confrontation against the Czechs.
“We are fully focusing on preparing for the match against the Czech Republic. We want to go to the World Cup and we will do everything possible for that”, said Anderson.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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