{"id":1992,"date":"2022-03-25T23:00:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T23:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/scotlands-ukraine-fundraiser-is-a-rare-good-news-story-in-footballs-moral-vacuum-inews\/"},"modified":"2022-03-25T23:00:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T23:00:13","slug":"scotlands-ukraine-fundraiser-is-a-rare-good-news-story-in-footballs-moral-vacuum-inews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/25\/scotlands-ukraine-fundraiser-is-a-rare-good-news-story-in-footballs-moral-vacuum-inews\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland's Ukraine fundraiser is a rare good news story in football's moral vacuum – iNews"},"content":{"rendered":"

It took three days from Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine for Poland\u2019s footballers to take a stand<\/a>. It was arguably the national team\u2019s admirable stance, that they would refuse to play their World Cup qualification play-off <\/a>against Russia under any circumstances, that forced Fifa to act, banning the country from taking part in international competition the following day.
At just 10 days\u2019 notice, Hampden Park will now welcome Poland\u2019s heroes on a night when Scotland should have been hosting Ukraine in a fixture that has now been postponed until June at the earliest.
The two nations will play each other in a fundraising friendly, with the proceeds \u2013 \u00a310 from each ticket \u2013 going towards UNICEF\u2019s humanitarian response both in Ukraine and in addressing the refugee crisis resulting from the conflict. The appeal will focus on ensuring families have clean water and nutritious food, as well as maintaining child health and protection services.
\u201cAs a father, the images of children in Ukraine has been heart-breaking to watch,\u201d said Scotland left-back Andy Robertson. \u201cWhen we were informed that the match against Ukraine would be postponed then working in partnership with Robert [Lewandowski] and the Polish squad to do our bit to help the situation was a no-brainer.\u201d
Ian Maxwell, the chief executive of the Scottish FA, added: \u201cAll football-related matters pale into insignificance next to what the people of that country [Ukraine] are experiencing.\u201d
Poland\u2019s allocation has already sold out and of the thousands of Scottish supporters who will be in attendance, many are planning further gestures of solidarity, including the display of Ukraine flags.
\u201cIt should be a great occasion for everything they\u2019re hoping to achieve,\u201d Iain Emerson, editor of the Tartan Army <\/em><\/a>magazine, tells i<\/mark><\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s great that they\u2019ve arranged it so quickly to show support and unity for Ukraine.\u201d For the first time in its history, the publication will not feature a Scotland player on the front, replaced with the message: \u201cWe stand with Ukraine.\u201d
It is easy to dismiss these moments \u2013 the minute\u2019s applauses and children\u2019s choirs, Brighton\u2019s yellow and blue kit, the messages of support emblazoned on jumbotron screens \u2013 as performative gesture politics, but they do matter.
Football, like the City and Westminster now derided as too easy on Vladimir Putin\u2019s <\/a>regime and its allies, is waking up \u2013 perhaps years too late \u2013 to the immense, and almost unrivalled, power it possesses in its reach to millions around the world.
Fifa were slow to act<\/a>, initially allowing Russia to keep playing under the name \u201cFootball Union of Russia\u201d so long as they played at a neutral venue and without displaying the flag or playing the national anthem.
By that logic, they would have been allowed to participate in the World Cup too, before Poland\u2019s bold stance eventually ended in Robert Lewandowski\u2019s side being handed a bye to the next stage of qualifying. Uefa then joined Fifa in barring Russian teams from its competitions, kicking Spartak Moscow out of the Europa League.
Yet amidst this dispiritingly belated \u2013 some would say enforced \u2013 drive against sportswashing<\/a>, Scotland and Poland\u2019s quick thinking, not to mention the generosity of their supporters, is a rare good news story.
The wider game may continue to spiral into a depressing moral vacuum, epitomised by the singing of Roman Abramovich\u2019s name<\/a> by sections of Chelsea fans, and the reluctance to address parallel questions about the Newcastle ownership<\/a>, but for 90 minutes, Hampden Park will do its bit.
\u201cAs many have already said, football is unimportant when you see the situation in Ukraine,\u201d said Scotland head coach Steve Clarke.
\u201cI know that the Scotland supporters and the players will rally to show that the power of football can have a positive impact even during such desperate situations as the one faced in Ukraine at present.\u201d
All rights reserved. \u00a9 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It took three days from Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine for Poland\u2019s footballers to take a stand. It was arguably the national team\u2019s admirable stance, that they would refuse to play their World Cup qualification play-off against Russia under any circumstances, that forced Fifa to act, banning the country from taking part in international competition the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}