https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/sports/soccer/poland-russia-fifa.

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Poland Refused to Play Russia

Once. It May Have to Do So
Again.
By Rory Smith
March 14, 2022
Poland’s stars cornered FIFA by threatening to boycott a World Cup qualifier.
Now, as Russia appeals the decision, Robert Lewandowski, Wojciech Szczesny
and their teammates may have to double down.
One by one, late on a Friday evening, Robert Lewandowski called his Poland
teammates. They were scattered across Europe, and most of them were busily
preparing for club games that weekend, but his question could not wait.
«We only cared about the outcome. We were prepared to forfeit the game. We were
not going to play».
The federation readily acceded to the players’ decision. They told Lewandowski
they would relay a message to FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, the next
morning to inform the organization of the Polish position. Russia and Russian
clubs, it declared, would no longer be able to play in its competitions, or in UEFA
events. A subsequent ruling would decree that foreign players on Russian teams
would be allowed to break their contracts and complete the season elsewhere.
That it was the intervention of the players that broke the bureaucratic deadlock was
significant, particularly as Russia prepares to contest its sporting isolation at the
Court of Arbitration for Sport, the secretive, unelected judicial body that serves as a
sort of voluntary high court for sporting matters.

Hoàng Mai Khôi

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