Bosnia plan to play football friendly with Russia condemned

Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Russia in a friendly match in November, the country's Football Association announced on its official website on September 8, sparking harsh criticism from Bosnia's star players and fans alike.

The game is scheduled to take place in St Petersburg on 19 November, one day before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, Euronews reported on September 11.

If the game goes ahead, it will mark the first time a European nation met Russia on the pitch since its national teams were barred from international competition over Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February.

The decision to play friendly with Russia was made by the Association's urgency committee in an emergency session on September 8, with five votes for and one against.

The captain of the Bosnian team, Inter Milan's Edin Džeko, openly criticised the decision and lashed out at the idea of playing against Russia amidst its aggression in Ukraine.

"I am against playing this match. I am always and only for peace," Džeko told Bosnian outlet Klix. "Unfortunately, I am not the one deciding who Bosnia will play against, but my position on this is clear and it doesn't involve playing this match while innocent people are being killed."

"I stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in these difficult times for them," Džeko, who has won the Premier League twice and the Bundesliga once in his stellar career, concluded.

"The decision is not good. I am speechless,” Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanić told the local media. "The national Football Association [officials] know what I think."

The 32-year-old former Juventus and Barcelona player has made 107 international appearances since his debut in 2008. He has recently signed for Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates.

Goalkeeper Asmir Begović — the country's former No. 1 currently plying his trade with Premier League's Everton — took to Twitter, reposting a 2021 tweet criticising the Association for "becoming an eBay page to fill the pockets of criminals" without adding any further comments.

Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic all said they would not play their World Cup qualifiers against Russia back in March before Russia's national teams were banned from international competition.

Football's global governing body FIFA and its European counterpart UEFA decided in February that all Russian teams, whether national or club sides, would be suspended from participation in FIFA and UEFA competitions after the invasion.

National team friendlies do not fall under the provision, however, and such matches are allowed as long as they are arranged between two recognised nations.

While Russian media hailed the match as "the beginning of the end of Russian football's isolation," the Ukrainian FA appealed to UEFA and FIFA to prevent the friendly. 

Furthermore, the Ukrainian national football body sent a letter to the Bosnian FA's executive committee, asking it to reconsider its decision because "it looks as if it is aimed at supporting the actions of the Russian government in Ukraine regarding the continuation of the war."

"It is worth noting that the last match of the Ukrainian national team in peacetime was against your team on November 2021," the statement recalled.

"Until this moment, we were sure that your wonderful country remembers the horrors of the war of the 1990s and will not allow the repetition of this ... in the 21th century."

"Your decision to play a friendly match against a country that has ruined the lives of millions of people is surprising," the Ukrainian FA emphasised.