Scotland v Ukraine World Cup play-off: Why UEFA must not allow Russia to destroy Ukrainian World Cup hopes at Hampden

Football will hardly be foremost on the minds of the Ukranian people as they come to terms with Russia’s full-scale invasion of their sovereign territory.

Yet, however insignificant the game may seem as countless lives and the entire world order has been thrown into question, it would equally be remiss not to recognise the potential profound, far-reaching implications of the tanks rolling into the streets of the country. And the potential impact these actions could have on Scotland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, scheduled to take place at Hampden on March 24.

As it stands, Ukrainian airspace has been closed and the Ukrainian Premier League has suspended all operations. That comes as several Brazilian players that are with Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv appeared in a video with their families from a hotel from Kyiv appealing to their own authorities to secure them safe passage out of the under-seige country. Those actions betray the belief that this incursion could be the precursor of a protracted conflict.

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In that scenario, there appears little possibility that Ukraine’s home-based national players will be able to make their way to Glasgow in under a month’s time. The ramifications of that create huge problems for the Hampden play-off. For their 2-0 qualifying win over Bosnia and Hernogovina last November that earned them a play-off place, seven of the starting XI were based either with Dynamo Kyiv or Shakhtar Donetsk. More worryingly, 15 of the 23 man squad for that encounter play football in their homeland.

Ukraine are due to face Scotland next month.Ukraine are due to face Scotland next month.
Ukraine are due to face Scotland next month.

UEFA have serious considerations to ponder over what they do about next month’s World Cup play-off for that under siege nation. Entirely unfair, and franky unforgiveable, would be any moves by the governing body to void the tie, and send Scotland through to the play-off final. It simply would not be right effectively to punish a country for being invaded; to deny them a long craved opportunity to appear in what would only be their second World Cup finals.

All required allowances are required to ensure that Ukraine are able to field some form of, admittedly, extensively under-strengthened team at Hampden. There are sufficient numbers of players based in other European countries to allow for that scenario. In the past year alone, Ukraine have fielded 19 players in such a bracket. Moreover, with such as Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, 104-time capped West Ham midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko and top-performing striker in Benfica’s Roman Yaremchuk, a non-home-based XI would not be denuded of all Ukraine’s most accomplished performers.

In terms of coaching the side, the fact that Andriy Shevchenko has been based in London for the past 15 years could afford a solution to current coach Oleksandr Petrakov being unable to take the team as a Kyiv resident. Shevchenko was in charge of his country for five years before stepping down following Euro 2020 last summer. His stint with Genoa that followed ended last month, so he is currently available. It can be presumed he would answer the call for next month’s play-off final, and UEFA should do all in their power to facilitate him constructing a competitive team to take the turf at Hampden. For what would be an emotion-fuelled mission. Russia’s attempts to pull Ukraine apart, cannot be allowed to extend to the football domain.

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