Dhe Bosnian Football Association announced the postponement of a friendly against Russia scheduled for November 19 in St. Petersburg. “The match (…) will not take place on this date,” said the association after a board meeting on Monday.
The announcement of the planned appearance of the national selection in Russia’s second largest city triggered indignant reactions in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the beginning of October. National players, sports officials and other public figures had started a “real revolt”, reported the Bosnian portal “klix.ba”.
“At a later time”
The outrage of the Bosnian public was directed at the fact that Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine since February. The sanctions imposed since then are also aimed at Russian sport. For example, Russian teams are no longer allowed to take part in FIFA and UEFA competitions. Pure friendlies are not affected so far.
“This friendly match will be played at a later date,” the Football Association announced on Monday. However, observers in Sarajevo assume that national coach Iwajlo Petev’s team will probably not play in Russia in the foreseeable future. The 47-year-old Bulgarian has been coaching the Bosnian national team since the beginning of last year.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Football Union (UAF) has called for the Iran national team to be excluded from the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. In a press release on its website, the association cited numerous media reports on systematic human rights violations in Iran as the reason.
According to the UAF, another reason for a possible exclusion is the alleged involvement in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. According to media reports, Russia is said to have used Iranian Shahed 136 combat drones several times. Both Moscow and the government in Tehran deny this. The UAF also demanded further sanctions against Russia, including expulsion from the world soccer association FIFA and the European soccer union UEFA. The reason for this is the efforts of the Russian Football Association (RFS) to integrate Ukrainian clubs and associations in the occupied territories into Russian structures.
