Ian Maxwell admits 'uncomfortable' Scotland vs Ukraine date talks make him feel like a fraud

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell insists he feels like a FRAUD when talking about a rearranged date for Scotland’s World Cup play-off showdown against Ukraine.

The Qatar 2022 semi-final at Hampden was due to take place on Thursday but has been replaced with a fundraising friendly against Poland to help their war-torn rivals.

FIFA expect to rearrange the game for June with the winner due to take on Austria or Wales for a place at the first-ever winter World Cup.

That would mean a hectic summer schedule with Scotland also due to play four Nations League fixtures.

Steve Clarke stated he would prefer to avoid such a scenario but Maxwell said it’s “uncomfortable” talking about it given events in that part of the world.

He said: "We have channelled that all through UEFA. The last things the Ukrainians need is more complications in terms of communication.

“I was on one call he has been on, but it has been done through UEFA. It is actually really uncomfortable being on a call and talking about football given what is going on over there.

“You feel like a bit of a fraud and it doesn’t feel right to be concentrating too much on the games because first and foremost you want the conflict to stop and you want everything that’s happening over there to stop and things to return to some sort of normality, whatever that looks like over there.

“It’s a really delicate one. We want to play Ukraine, we want to play the winner of the Wales-Austria one in the final, and we want to qualify for Qatar. That’s the route that was laid out, that’s what we want to achieve, and we will do everything we can to make sure that’s a possibility.

“It’s all hypothetical at the moment and it’s probably inappropriate to go into too much detail because we