World Cup 2022: Scotland offers Ukraine to postpone the play-off for Qatar

•  The World Cup 2022 play-off semi-final between Scotland and Ukraine scheduled for March 24 could be postponed. The objective is to give the Ukrainian selection a chance to be able to prepare in the best conditions.

Will we know the 32 qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by April 1, the day of the final phase draw? Uncertainty remains all the more so as the Scotland-Ukraine meeting scheduled for Glasgow may not take place on March 24. The Ukrainian federation initially asked, through the chairman of its ethics committee, to be automatically qualified “in order to give a boost to the Ukrainian people”.

The Scottish federation does not hear it that way, but has written to its Ukrainian counterparts offering to help them. Rod Petrie, the president, explained “We bring our support and our friendship to the Ukrainian people. We have entered into a dialogue with UEFA and FIFA in order to offer the best possible preparation to our Ukrainian colleagues in these unimaginable circumstances. “Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Ukrainian football championship has been suspended until further notice. Many players have fled or decided to take up arms.

If for the moment no request for postponement has been made, Scotland has said it is ready to accept any decision by UEFA and FIFA. The two organizations should settle the uncertainty surrounding this meeting by the end of the week. The main difficulty being to find a date, since neither country currently knows when Ukraine will be able to play.

The winner of this play-off semi-final must then face the winner of the confrontation between Wales and Austria on March 29. In the event of qualification, the selection trained by Oleksandr Petrakov must normally move to play this final, offering a ticket for the 2022 World Cup. A World Cup in which Ukraine has not participated since 2006. In addition, FIFA will confirm in the next few days, the qualification of Poland for the play-off final, after the exclusion of Russia. Repechage solutions were not retained.