Scotland v Ukraine World Cup play-off to be delayed as Scottish FA notified over decision and new date

Scotland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine will be delayed until June as was widely expected.

The Scottish Football Association received notification from Fifa that this was the intention last night.

Official confirmation is expected to come within the next 48 hours with Uefa currently tasked with organising a match schedule for the new June dates as well as rearranging the Nations League games due to take place then.

Scotland were already scheduled to meet Ukraine again on 7 June in a Nations League Group B1 game.

Two matches against Armenia and one against Republic of Ireland in the same competition had also been confirmed for the first two weeks in June.

The sold-out play-off tie against Ukraine, scheduled for a fortnight on Thursday, was the most imminent and by far the most crucial of Scotland’s upcoming fixtures.

Manager Steve Clarke was due to name his squad at the start of next week.

However, although the last remaining tickets were sold only last Monday, the game has been in doubt since the first Russian tank rolled into Ukraine last month. Whether the clash can go ahead in June must already be viewed as doubtful.

The Ukraine FA requested a postponement last week. Many of their international squad are based in Ukraine, where domestic football has been suspended.

The SFA sent a message of “friendship and unity” to their counterparts in Ukraine last week, offering to support them in their preparations should the tie go ahead as planned.

It’s understood Wales and Austria will also have their play-off semi-final put back to the summer. The winners of that tie play the victors between Scotland and Ukraine.

Noel Mooney, the chief executive of the Welsh FA, last night tweeted a message of thanks to the