UEFA vice-president Zbigniew Boniek has blasted Fifa’s failure to kick Russia out of the World Cup.
Despite global condemnation and widespread punitive action against Russia following their invasion of Ukraine, world football’s governing body have refused to boot them out of Qatar 2022.
Uważam, ze jest to decyzja skandaliczna i dowiedziałem się o tym tak jak pan dwie godziny temu. Nie podpisałbym się pod tym za żadne skarby… proszę mnie nie wciągać w jakieś fifowskie ruchy z którymi nie mam nic wspólnego. https://t.co/lvgTbve1JJ
— Zbigniew Boniek (@BoniekZibi) February 27, 2022
Legendary former Poland and Juventus winger Boniek, 65, took to Twitter to voice his disapproval of the decision on Sunday evening.
In response to a question from investigative journalist Szymon Jadczak about what he thought of Fifa’s statement on the situation, former Poland manager Boniek tweeted his reply in his native Polish.
The English translation is: “I believe this is an outrageous decision, and I found out about it like you did two hours ago.
“I would not subscribe to this for any treasures.
“Please do not involve me in any FIFO [presumably FIFA] movements with which I have nothing to do with.”
Poland are due to play Russia in a World Cup play-off semi-final in Moscow on March 24.
Fifa announced their position on the day when the FA ruled out England facing Russia at any level.
Instead, football’s world governing body will allow them to compete in the play-offs at neutral venues under the name “Football Union of Russia” — but with no national anthem, flag or fans.
Fifa chief Gianni Infantino is under pressure to axe Russia from the World Cup over Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
But Fifa have stopped short of that step, saying ‘additional sanctions’ could include ‘potential exclusion from competitions’.