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Football London
Football London
Sport
Aaron Catterson-Reid

FA confirm that England won't play Russia amid ongoing Ukraine invasion

The FA have confirmed that England will not be playing Russia for the foreseeable future given their ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Russia have garnered considerable criticism across the globe in recent days following Vladimir Putin's controversial decision to invade Ukraine.

A statement from the FA read: "Out of solidarity with the Ukraine and to wholeheartedly condemn the atrocities being committed by the Russian leadership, the FA can confirm that we won't play against Russia in any international fixtures for the foreseeable future.

"This includes any potential match at any level of senior, age group or para football."

The two first-teams haven't played each other since June 2016 during the Euros group stage, when they played out a 1-1 draw as Eric Dier's opener was cancelled out by an injury-time strike from Vasili Berezutski.

The FA's decision comes just after Poland had announced that they will not compete with Russia in their World Cup play-off which is scheduled for March.

PZPN president Cezary Kulesza spoke on the matter, saying: "No more words, time to act.

"Due to the escalation of the aggression of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine, the Polish national team does not intend to play the play-off match against the republic of Russia.

"This is the only right decision. We are in talks with the Swedish and Czech federations to present a common position to FIFA."

Polish star and Bayern Munich frontman Robert Lewandowski added: "It is the right decision! I can't imagine playing a match with the Russian National Team in a situation when armed aggression in Ukraine continues.

"Russian footballers and fans are not responsible for this, but we can't pretend that nothing is happening."

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