Soccer-Bosnia postpones November friendly with Russia after public criticism

SARAJEVO : Bosnia's Football Association (NFSBIH) on Monday decided to postpone a friendly match with Russia scheduled for Nov. 19, bowing to widespread criticism from players and officials after the decision was announced two months ago.

The game was scheduled to take place in St Petersburg one day before the World Cup in Qatar is scheduled to start but the NSFBIH Executive Board decided to cancel it and postpone for another time, the body said in a statement.

Russia's national teams were barred from international competition over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation".

Bosnia failed to qualify for the World Cup.

The Balkan country's national team captain Edin Dzeko, who plays as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan, had opposed the match, as well as his national team mate, Miralem Pjanic, the former Juventus and Barcelona player who now plays for Sharjah FC in the United Arab Emirates.

Bosnian Serb pro-Russian leader Milorad Dodik has said that he assured Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow in September that the match will take place.

But in a demonstration of solidarity with Ukraine, the mayor of Bosnia's capital Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, condemned the decision and warned that the city would cease cooperation with the NFSBIH unless it has reversed its decision.

As part of the Bosnian war in the 1990s, Sarajevo endured the 43-month siege by the Bosnian Serb forces, the longest siege in modern European history in the 20th century.

Global soccer's governing body FIFA and European soccer's governing body 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