Ukraine had asked FIFA and UEFA to postpone their World Cup play-off with Scotland until June due to Russian invasion; tie had been due to be played at Hampden Park on March 24; FIFA has granted the request, but Wales vs Austria tie will still be played this month
Tuesday 8 March 2022 22:14, UK
Scotland's World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, scheduled for March 24, has been postponed, FIFA has announced.
FIFA has also confirmed Wales' play-off with Austria in Cardiff will go ahead as planned on March 24.
World football's governing body had a call with the chief executives of the Scotland, Ukraine, Wales and Austria Football Associations on Monday where they were verbally told that the Scotland-Ukraine game will be moved to June.
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.
But now the clash has been 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."
In its own statement, the Scottish FA gave its support to FIFA's decision, and confirmed they would play the loser of the Wales-Austria tie in a friendly on March 29.
"The Scottish FA notes the decision of the FIFA organising committee to postpone the FIFA World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, originally scheduled to take place on 24 March, until June," read the statement.
"Given the current situation in Ukraine we support the decision to uphold the request to postpone the match and reiterate our message of solidarity to our friends and colleagues within the Ukrainian Association of Football.
"We now await confirmation from UEFA on the amended fixture schedule, including any displaced UEFA Nations League fixtures, and will comment further at that time.
"In the meantime, we are in discussions to organise a replacement fixture on 24 March and will update supporters as soon as we have more information.
"We can also confirm that, with the play-off semi-final between Wales vs Austria going ahead in March, a friendly match away from home to the losing side will take place on 29 March."
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) added: "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, FIFA have granted Poland a bye to the path B final after throwing Russia out of the tournament as a sanction for the invasion.
Poland will face either Sweden or the Czech Republic for a place in the finals in Qatar this winter.
