Scotland will play Poland in a friendly at Hampden next Thursday, it has been confirmed. The match has been arranged following the postponement of the Scots’ World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine, which was scheduled to take place in Glasgow that night.
Poland’s own qualification semi- final, against Russia, has been cancelled due to the Vladimir Putin-led invasion of Ukraine, with the Poles being given a bye to the final where they will face either Czech Republic or Sweden.
Tickets for the match will go on sale to Scotland Supporters’ Club members at 1pm today, and will then be put on general sale from 1pm on Thursday. Ten pounds from the sale of each ticket will be donated to Unicef’s humanitarian response in Ukraine and supporters will have the opportunity to make an additional donation if they wish during the ticket purchase process, with a special donate button on the webpage directing to Unicef UK’s appeal.
The Unicef emergency appeal raises essential funds to support families and their children within Ukraine, and those that have been displaced to neighbouring countries, ensuring child health and protection services are sustained and that families have clean water and nutritious food.
Steve Clarke will name his squad for the game today. The Scotland manager said: “We’ve seen wonderful examples of individuals and groups within Scottish football rally with their own contributions towards the situation in recent weeks. With the support of Unicef, this match is a way for all Scottish football fans to unite in solidarity and support our friends in Ukraine.
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“As many have already said, football is unimportant when you see the situation in Ukraine. I 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.”
Andy Robertson, the Scotland captain, said: “As a father, the images of children in Ukraine have been heartbreaking to watch. I am a proud ambassador for Unicef and when we were informed that the match against Ukraine would be postponed then working in partnership with Robert [Lewandowski, the Poland captain] and the Polish squad to do our bit to help the situation was a no-brainer.
“We send our love and prayers to our fellow participants across Ukraine’s football community and hope that the money raised by this match will help the tremendous efforts already made by Unicef in Ukraine and in helping the refugee situation.”
Meanwhile, Sky have confirmed that Scotland’s qualification final will be shown on free-to-air television if Clarke’s men can overcome Ukraine. Ali Law, the director of policy at Sky, confirmed the broadcaster was in talks with STV to ensure as many Scots as possible would have the opportunity to watch the game live.
Law was giving evidence to MPs at the Scottish affairs committee in Westminster as part of their enquiry into broadcasting in Scotland. He pointed out Sky had made the qualifier against Serbia in Belgrade free-to-air when Scotland qualified for the European Championships. David Marshall’s penalty save from the Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic decided the outcome after the teams had drawn 1-1.
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In response to questioning about free-to-air international football by Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservatives leader, Law said Sky was proud of the investment it makes into sport. “We have worked very closely with Scottish football authorities, the SPFL and the SFA, for a number of years. We also have a track record and are a conscientious holder of these broadcast rights,” he said.
“When it comes to decisive moments of national importance like the Scotland-Serbia game, when Scotland were a game away from participation in a major championship for the first time in 22 years, we did make that free-to-air via our own channel Pick.
“It was phenomenally successful and it got 63 per cent of the viewing audience in Scotland, which is about 1.5 million people.
“We are in a position to adopt the same approach. Should Scotland get to the World Cup qualifying final we would partner with STV to show that on a free-to-air basis.”
Law confirmed the Ukraine game would not be offered free-to-air. That game will now almost certainly go ahead in June during a window which is due to be given over to Nations League fixtures.
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The winner of the tie will play the victor from the Wales v Austria game, which goes ahead in Cardiff on March 24, for a place in the Qatar World Cup.
