Poland has already found a rival in the place of Russia. FIFA’s decision could have been even better

Even on Tuesday afternoon in the corridors of the Polish Football Association you could hear that it is an unpredictable organization, so even the date on which it will publish the key decision on the play-off match with Russia is unknown. What about the verdict itself! – They’re scheming in Zurich. You can expect anything – we heard in the relationship. In the evening, FIFA released a statement and ruled out Russia. Thus, Poland advanced to the finals of the World Cup play-offs.

FIFA has ruled out Russia. “Better late than later”

Ever since Russia started a war in Ukraine, FIFA has handled her like an egg. It only “monitored the situation” when the first bombs fell on Ukraine, and only under the pressure of subsequent federations, which clearly announced that they would not play with Russia, decided to suspend the representation and Russian clubs. But this did not end the topic, because FIFA could hang up Russia at any time. In recent days, there have been various scenarios for completing the elimination: from moving the Russia match to June, replacing Russia with another team and playing a semi-final match on the scheduled date of March 24, to excluding Russia and automatically moving the Poles to the final.

There was a sense of impatience in the Polish Football Association. The decision did not come for a long time, so he did not even know which representation to analyze in the first place, and the union authorities had their hands tied in many organizational matters. The comment of the PZPN spokesman, Jakub Kwiatkowski, on the final decision of FIFA was very telling: “Better late than later”.

Sports during war can remind you of important values

The very decision – to exclude Russia and move Poland to the final – is the best for the team from a pragmatic point of view. She is only a step away from the World Cup in Qatar, not two. If you look at it as another sanction that falls on Russia in response to its war actions, the football world should also be satisfied.

On the other hand, so much has been said for several days about the need for justice and equality. Sport in the terrible times of war may remind you of these values ​​unobtrusively. And since FIFA has guaranteed itself complete freedom to make a decision in a situation where a federation withdraws from the elimination or – if – is excluded, it could also replace it with another team. The logic and practice of 1992, when it was necessary to look for a replacement for Yugoslavia and Denmark was found, suggested that the place of the excluded team should be taken by the next team in the elimination. In this case it would be Slovakia, which came third in Group H, behind Croatia and Russia.

Hypothetically – Poland wins the final against Sweden or the Czech Republic and plays in. The promotion to the World Cup itself will, of course, sweeten a lot, but wouldn’t it taste even better if the Poles had won it like everyone else – going through two rounds of play-offs? The Swedes are already talking about the fact that moving the Poles to the final is unfair, and it is only a matter of time when further such comments will appear. But it was not about reaching the final, it was about not playing with Russia. This conscience prevented us from playing. – “I refuse to play against players who choose to represent the values ​​and principles of Russia! I refuse to stand on the field in the colors of my country and listen to the national anthem of Russia! I refuse to participate in an event that legitimizes the actions of the Russian government.”

Czesław Michniewicz has to decide what about the match on March 24. Most likely, Poland will play against Scotland

However, we are not going to complain. FIFA made a decent decision. Now is the time for Czesław Michniewicz, who is to decide whether on March 24 he wants to play a sparring match (which would be his debut as a coach) or whether he prefers to devote this time to additional training. If the coach wants to play, Poland will most likely face Scotland, which was scheduled to play the play-off against Ukraine that day. Due to the war, this match was moved to June. The Polish Football Association has already reached an agreement with the Scottish federation. Both sides, however, waited for an official FIFA decision. On Wednesday, they are to return to the talks and determine the details – including where the match will take place – in Glasgow or Chorzów. Both Poles and Scots want to play at home.