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Ukraine have asked Fifa to postpone their 2022 World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against Scotland this month following Russia’s invasion of their country.
The two nations were due to meet in Glasgow on March 24, with the winner advancing to play either Wales or Austria for a place at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
With the conflict intensifying in Ukraine all football has been suspended and it is now expected that governing body Fifa will grant the request for the play-off at Hampden Park to be called off.
“Fifa can confirm it has received a request from the Ukrainian Association of Football today to postpone their matches scheduled for March," Fifa said in a statement.
“Fifa remains in regular contact with Uefa and the Scottish Football Association to find an appropriate solution.
“Fifa expresses its deepest solidarity to everybody affected by what is happening in Ukraine. A further update will be provided in due course.”
Ukrainian Mykolenko leads Everton to FA Cup victory
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Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko, from Ukraine, wearing the Ukrainian flag on his t-shirt, applauds before the FA Cup 5th round match between against Boreham Wood at Goodison Park. AP -
Vitaliy Mykolenko (L) and teammates stand draped in national flags of Ukraine. AFP -
Everton fans hold a banner in the colours of the Ukraine national flag, and depicting Ukrainian defender Vitaliy Mykolenko. AFP -
Vitaliy Mykolenko of Everton prior to kick-off. Getty -
Everton's Salomon Rondon scores their first goal. Reuters -
Salomon Rondon of Everton celebrates after scoring. Getty -
Salomon Rondon scores Everton's second goal. Reuters
The Scottish Football Association has been in contact with both Fifa and Uefa in recent days to discuss both the men’s play-off game and a fixture between the two nations’ women’s teams on April 8.
A postponement of the play-off could also have implications for the semi-final between Wales and Austria in Cardiff.
Earlier this week Scottish FA president Rod Petrie wrote to Ukrainian football’s governing body “to send a message of support, friendship and unity” following Russia’s invasion.
“Football is inconsequential amid conflict but we have conveyed the strong sense of solidarity communicated to us by Scotland fans and citizens in recent days,” the SFA said.
Last week, Fifa and Uefa banned Russia’s national teams and clubs from its competitions, although the Russian Football Union announced on Thursday it would appeal against the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Russia had also been due to complete in the World Cup play-offs but prior to the ban several nations, including Scotland, had said they would refuse to play against the country at any level until further notice.
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Damage after the shelling of buildings in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tank obstacles to be placed on roads around Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Anti-war protesters attach sunflowers to barriers in front of the Russian embassy. Reuters -
Ukrainian volunteers prepare food for displaced people outside Lviv railway station in western Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher north-east of Kyiv. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees rest at Warsaw East train station in Poland. EPA -
Children look out from a carriage window as a train prepares to depart from a station in Lviv to the town of Uzhhorod near the border with Slovakia. AFP -
A girl who fled Ukraine is reunited with her father in Medyka, south-eastern Poland. AP Photo -
Tears outside a house damaged by a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo -
A civil defence member is poised to shoot as a vehicle approaches a checkpoint in Gorenka. AP Photo -
A Ukrainian civil defence member in the garden of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike. AP Photo -
Members of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division board a plane bound for Germany in Savannah, Georgia. EPA -
Prayers for peace in Ukraine at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square. AFP -
A woman (right) hugs an arriving passenger from a train carrying refugees at Berlin's central station. EPA -
Firefighters battle a blaze in a Kharkiv police building hit by shelling. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman makes a phone call after crossing the Slovakian border. AFP -
A doctor takes shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters -
Debris which locals say was caused by shelling in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk. Reuters -
MPs in London give a standing ovation to Ukraine ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, who was in the public gallery. AP -
Distraught women and children fleeing Ukraine wait to enter Poland at the Korczowa crossing. Getty -
Newborn Ivan lies next to his mother as they shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters -
Firefighters hand water to people in a Ukrainian train full of refugees in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Ukrainian refugees queue to file for residency permits at Prague's police headquarters. AFP -
Firefighters work to contain a blaze in buildings housing the Kharkiv regional police department. AFP -
A woman and her children sit in a tent in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter. AP -
Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by Russian shelling. Reuters -
An elderly woman comforts a child as they take shelter inside an underground station in Kyiv. Reuters -
People queue at a pharmacy in central Kyiv. Reuters -
A woman is consoled by a volunteer after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania. Reuters -
A Ukrainian civilian in the city of Zhytomyr practises throwing petrol bombs. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses after an interview with Reuters in Kyiv. Reuters -
A blast is seen at Kyiv's TV tower. Reuters -
A girl in Siret, Romania, covers herself with a blanket after fleeing from Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, acknowledges applause from US first lady Jill Biden as they attend President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address in Washington. AFP -
A man walks past the remains of Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to Kyiv. AFP -
Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front. Defending the capital is a 'key priority', Ukraine's president has said. AFP -
Russian aircraft on the ground at Luninets Airbase, Belarus, about 50 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. AFP -
People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha. AP -
A woman with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. AP -
Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at Kyiv Zoo. AP -
An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha. AP -
Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Paramedics move a man who was wounded by shelling in a residential area of Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. AP -
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike in Zhytomyr. Reuters -
US actor and director Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv. Reuters -
Demonstrators participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Lafayette Square in Washington. AFP -
Ukrainian soldiers rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv. AP -
A barricade made of trams, buses and sand bags is seen through the window of car in the northern part of Kyiv. AP -
Members of the European Parliament applaud after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech at a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reuters -
Ambassadors and diplomats walk out as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (on screen) speaks during a recorded message at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. EPA
