A jointly signed statement from the football associations in Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic has called for Fifa and Uefa to find “alternative solutions” for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, where the three nations say it is “impossible” for any of the scheduled matches to take place in Russia.

It has already existed calls to deprive Russia of its hosting Champions League final and remove the Russian Grand Prix from the Formula 1 calendar this year, in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s country launch an invasion of Ukraine.

Now Uefa and Fifa must work to find a new place at short notice for the qualifiers next month, where all three nations refuse to host the prospect of traveling to Moscow.

The qualifying routes used in Europe to reach the Qatar World Cup 2022 mean that only one of the four nations on each route will go to Qatar, with Russia facing Poland at home and Sweden hosting the Czech Republic. The winners of each match will then meet in Moscow according to the current plan, but a straightforward statement left no doubt that new arrangements must be made.

That statement, Posted of Polish FA, read:

“Based on the current alarming developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including the security situation, the football associations of Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic express their firm position that the play-off matches to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scheduled for 24 and 29 March 2022, should not be played in the territory of the Russian Federation.

“The signatories of this call are not considering traveling to Russia and playing football matches there. The military escalation we are seeing has serious consequences and significantly lower security for our national football teams and official delegations.

“Therefore, we expect Fifa and Uefa to react immediately and present alternative solutions regarding places where these upcoming play-off matches can be played.”

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The Swedish Football Association noted separately that they are waiting for instructions on how to proceed to plan for their game, but refused to harbor the prospect of going to Russia if the current state of war remained.

“Swedish football is appalled by what we now see unfolding in Ukraine. The situation is extremely serious and the only thing we can hope for is that this unjust invasion will end as soon as possible. Our thoughts are with all those affected in Ukraine.

“We take part in the news reporting, as well as authorities and representatives of the government’s advice and recommendations. SvFF is also waiting for guidance from the international federations, UEFA and FIFA, on how Russia’s participation in international competitions should be handled.

“But our own assessment is that, as the situation is now, it will be impossible to play a possible play-off match for the World Cup in Moscow against Russia on March 29.”

The Czech national team’s Twitter account added:

“The football associations in the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden demand that the possible play-off match for the World Cup be moved from Russia. All three clubs made this joint decision during Thursday’s meeting and informed both FIFA and UEFA of this demand. “