By Tom Prosser
The Football Association of Wales are hoping to receive clarification on Tuesday about when their World Cup play-off fixtures will take place, after it has now been officially confirmed that Scotland’s semi-final against Ukraine has been postponed.
FIFA, world football’s governing body, had a call with the chief executives of the Scotland, Ukraine, Wales and Austria Football Associations on Monday where they were verbally told that the game will be moved to June.
The Scotland vs Ukraine clash was due to be played at Hampden Park on March 24, with the winner going on to face Austria or Wales in Cardiff for a place in this year’s World Cup in Qatar.
The match has now been postponed owing to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military. Russia had been due to face Poland in their semi-final, but they have been thrown out of the tournament by FIFA as a sanction for the invasion.
Diolch for messages around the play-off matches in March & the NL games in June. We have met with FIFA/UEFA/Austria/Scotland/Ukraine and we are hopeful of updating you in next day or so on fixtures. @Cymru @FAWales
Solidarity 🇺🇦 and love 🏴 ❤️— Noel Mooney (@NoelMooney13) March 7, 2022
However, Wales have not yet been informed about whether their semi-final with Austria on March 24 will go ahead or not.
Wales have Nations League matches scheduled for June and many fans have already booked flights and hotels for those matches and would welcome a decision as soon as possible.
Surely we could play ours then play the winner of Scotland/Ukraine when they play, if we best Austria, in June? Otherwise our NL games will get affected just one big knock on affect
— Jordan🏴 (@JordsLFC96) March 7, 2022
The FAW are aware of all the potential scenarios after several meetings over the last five days, but no final decision has been communicated to them as of yet.
Rob Page’s side’s game with Austria at the Cardiff City Stadium is sold out and currently plans remain in place for the game to go ahead on March 24.
The FAW is understood to be “hopeful” of some further clarity on the situation later today (Tuesday).