The match between Scotland and Ukraine has been postponed after decisions were taken by FIFA and other participating member associations pushing the game to June, with Poland given a bye to the Path B final, where they will play either Sweden or the Czech Republic.
The decision was made yesterday, after the Bureau of the FIFA Organising Committee took key decisions in relation to the European play-off matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, following consultation with UEFA and the participating FIFA member associations.
The world football’s governing body had a call with the chief executives of Scotland, Ukraine, Wales and Austria Football Associations on Monday where they were verbally told that the Scotland-Ukraine game will be moved to June.
FIFA has also confirmed Wales’ play-off with Austria in Cardiff will go ahead as planned on March 24. The play-off semi-final was due to be played at Hampden Park on March 24, with the winner going on to face Austria or Wales in Cardiff for a place in this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
The match between Scotland and Ukraine was postponed owing to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military.
In a statement released on Tuesday evening, FIFA said: “On 3 March 2022, the Ukrainian Association of Football wrote to FIFA requesting that its qualification match(es) be rescheduled owing to the impossibility of organising both the travel and training of a team under the current circumstances.
Following consultation with UEFA and the four participating member associations in path A of the European qualifying play-offs, it was unanimously agreed in the spirit of solidarity to accept this request.
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.
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 match between Scotland and Ukraine postponed to June
Following consultation with UEFA and the four participating member associations in Path A of the European qualifying play-offs, it was unanimously agreed in the spirit of solidarity to accept the request.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) statement read: “The FAW supports FIFA’s decision in this matter and stands in solidarity with Ukraine and reiterates its condemnation for the use of force and the atrocities being committed by Russia.”
In addition, subsequent to the decision of 28 February 2022 taken jointly with the UEFA Executive Committee to suspend all Russian teams from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice, the Bureau of the FIFA Organising Committee decided that Poland will receive a bye to the final of Path B due to take place on 29 March 2022, in which they will face the winners of the match between Sweden and the Czech Republic.
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