The decisions also have an impact on the round of 16 in the Europa League by Spartak Moscow and the European play-off for the World Cup finals in Qatar, in which three tickets will be awarded at the end of March. In a semi-final path, Poland were originally scheduled to play in Russia on March 24. If the Russians made it to the final, their opponents would be Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29th. Ukraine play their semi-final in Scotland on March 24 and could face Austria, who first travel to Wales, if they advance. However, the International Football Association (FIFA), which is responsible for the competition, has the last word.
In the World Cup qualifiers, the associations from Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic had previously announced their refusal to host the play-off games in Russia at the end of March. “The signatories of this appeal do not consider traveling to Russia and playing football matches there,” read a letter to FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura that the Polish FA published on Twitter on Thursday. The “military escalation” has serious implications for the safety of the teams and supervisors.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino commented on this on Thursday evening after a council meeting of the world association, but wanted to wait and see: “We are in contact with the associations that still have to play these qualifying games. With the Russian Federation and the others. We are analyzing the situation. At the moment we are continuing to monitor the situation.” The Council Bureau, FIFA’s advisory committee, will address the issue “and will make decisions as soon as necessary”.
UEFA thanks to French President Macron
UEFA, meanwhile, reacted more quickly, leaking on Thursday that St. Petersburg would be stripped of hosting the club’s most important final this season because of Russia’s military attack. However, a quick decision for a replacement location had not yet been expected. In a statement on Friday, UEFA thanked French President Emmanuel Macron “for his personal support and commitment to bringing the most prestigious game in European club football to France at a time of unprecedented crisis.”
The Kremlin regretted the postponement of the game. “Of course it is a pity that this decision was made,” Russian President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to TASS agency. Several World Cup games in 2018 and several European Championship games in 2021 took place in the Gazprom Arena on Krestovsky Island. In 2017, the German national team celebrated their last major international success there by winning the Confed Cup.
Russian association reacts with incomprehension
The president of the Russian Football Union (RFS) and CEO of Gazprom, Alexander Dyukov, criticized the transfer. “We believe that the decision to postpone the Champions League final is dictated by political reasons. The RFS always adheres to the principle of keeping sport out of politics and can therefore not support this decision,” Dyukov said on Friday, according to the association. Dyukov has been a member of the UEFA Executive Committee since 2021.
The final venue had to be changed in the past two seasons due to the CoV pandemic. In 2020 the final was moved to Lisbon and in 2021 to Porto. Istanbul is planned as the final venue in 2023, London in 2024 and Munich in 2025. St. Petersburg is the hometown of Russian President Putin. The state-owned Russian energy company Gazprom is one of UEFA’s biggest sponsors. There was no information from the European umbrella organization on Friday about the future of this partnership.
Schalke removes main sponsor Gazprom from the jersey
Game operations in Ukrainian football had already been suspended. Clubs like Sorya Luhansk and Shakhtar Donetsk, which come from the areas of eastern Ukraine that have been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, have not been training or playing in their home country for several years.
At club level, there was a first reaction from the German second division soccer team Schalke 04, who will no longer play with the lettering of their main Russian sponsor Gazprom after the Russian attack on Ukraine. The club announced this on Thursday. “In view of the events, development and escalation of the past few days,” the club decided to do so, the statement said. The move follows talks with Gazprom Germania.
“Instead, Schalke 04 will be on the chest of the Royal Blues,” said the club. In the morning it had already become known that the businessman Matthias Warnig, who had been sanctioned by the USA in the course of the Ukraine conflict, had resigned from the Schalke supervisory board. Warnig is the CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a subsidiary of the energy company Gazprom.
Austria also wants to “set an example”
In Austria, the campaign was followed on Friday by Wiener Austria, whose second team, the Young Violets, will enter the Admiral 2nd League as a reaction to the Ukraine war for the time being without the Gazprom logo on their jerseys. Since August 2018, Gazprom has officially only been active as a sponsor of Austria in the youth field. The club receives a sum in the seven-digit range.
“We are following the developments surrounding the Russian attack on Ukraine with great dismay,” Austria wrote in a statement. The club also wanted to “set an example” in this situation. The Young Violets are in action against GAK in Graz on Friday evening. The further procedure based on the current contract situation should be decided promptly in the ongoing discussions with the group. Austria’s contract with Gazprom runs until the summer of 2023.
