Playing with the Russians? In any case! The Bosnian stars were shocked by the idea of ​​playing in St. Petersburg

During the autumn, coach Valerij Karpin’s men planned friendlies against Kyrgyzstan on September 25 in Bishkek, then on November 19 in Iran, and a day before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, a home duel in St. Petersburg with the selection of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

While the first two matches would probably not attract much attention, in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina it is exactly the opposite. It was a big surprise that some national team from Europe is willing to play with the Russians in the current situation.

The footballers themselves, including the biggest stars, were shocked by the arrangement of this match and understandably refused to even consider playing with Russia.

According to some Bosnian media, the suspected courtship with Russians is the work of a political clique reaching into the Bosnian football association led by Vica Zeljkovic, who is supposed to be connected to politicians from Republika Srpska (one of the parts of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Its representatives have recently intensified Serbian nationalist rhetoric and, with the help of the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin, are trying to destabilize Bosnia.

The biggest stars like Edin Džeko or former Juventus and Barcelona player Miralem Pjanič immediately refused to play against the Russians. “This is not right. I have no words. The union knows what I think about it,” Pjanič said.

Sheffield defender Anel Ahmedhodžič soon joined them. “I was shocked when I saw it (the announcement of the match against Russia). We’re all watching what’s going on, and playing Russia like that would be a huge mistake. I have a friend in Ukraine, I was terribly disappointed when I found out about the planned match,” said Ahmedhodžič.

“Don’t even count on me,” said Augsburg forward Ermedin Demirovic.

Then they started spinning at the union as well. “I admit we made a mistake. I will request that the match with the Russians be cancelled,” said Fuad Čolpa, a member of the union leadership, for N1 television.

“That match will not be played,” said Željko Komšič, a member of the three-member political presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (representative of the Bosnian Croats).

By all accounts, it seems that the controversial match will not take place in the end, because apparently only the union president and pro-Russian politicians want to play in St. Petersburg.