Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich and his fellow Polish international teammates have released a statement saying that they have decided to refuse to play their World Cup playoff match against Russia, following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine this week.
The playoff had been set for March 24 and was due to be held in Russia but Poland's players, as well as their national football association have made the decision to refuse to play the game, stating that 'there are more important things in life than football.'
This will now leave the matter in the hands of Gianni Infantino and FIFA. The FIFA boss has a relationship with Russia's President and has previously resisted calls to criticise Russia.
According to the playoffs draw, the winner of the Poland & Russia tie would have played the winner of Sweden vs Czech Republic for a place in FIFA's flagship competition.
Poland finished second in their World Cup qualifying group, six points behind England. Meanwhile Russia narrowly missed out on automatic qualification as they finished just one point behind Croatia in their group.
Were Poland to qualify, this would have been their ninth appearance at a World Cup but their decision not to play may have now denied them that opportunity. In the case of Leeds' Klich, he may not get another opportunity to feature in a World Cup as he will be 35 by the time the next competition comes around.
Klich has played 38 times for his country, scoring two goals. He featured in four of Poland's qualifiers, missing the others due to Covid.
