On March 1, Beijing time, after the voice of the United States Football Association, the Canadian Football Association also joined the "brother gang" in solidarity with Ukraine.
The official statement of the Canadian Football Association said: "Canada is the country with the largest number of Ukrainians outside of Ukraine and Russia. In order to support the Ukrainian people, the Canadian Football Association decided not to play against Russian teams, including national teams and club teams. ”
Earlier, the U.S. Soccer Association just issued an official statement: "Our national representative team will no longer play games with Russia." We do this to respect Ukraine and not to tarnish the sport of football. ”
Before the U.S. Soccer Association and the Canadian Soccer Association, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, who were in the same group as Russia in the World Preliminary Tournament play-offs, had spoken out and refused to play with Russia. FIFA and UEFA also made major decisions, Russia was kicked out of the World Preliminary Round, and the Europa League team Sparta Moscow was also disqualified.
In response to the ban decision of FIFA and UEFA, the Russian Football Federation said it would appeal, arguing that FIFA and UEFA violated the norms and principles of international sports events and also violated the spirit of sportsmanship. Russian boss Karpin also expressed disappointment with FIFA's decision, and the player's World Cup dream was doused by FIFA.
According to incomplete statistics, at least 10 FOOTBALL associations have claimed to refuse to play against Russia in order to support Ukraine. In addition to canada, the United States, Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, there are also the Netherlands, Scotland, Wales, France and Ireland.