Ukraine must have the final say over play-off says Andy

ANDY ROBERTSON has urged FIFA to allow war-torn Ukraine to decide when is best to play Scotland in the World Cup play-offs.

But he is adamant player welfare has to be taken into account if Steve Clarke’s men are forced into six competitive fixtures at the end of a long, hard season in June.

The Scots are pencilled in for four Nations League matches in June but, if Ukraine are able to take part in the play-off, Robertson’s team would also have to add that game and a potential final against Wales to the list.

The Scotland skipper is adamant the plight of the Ukrainian people is the absolute priority and is happy for the match to take place only when their players are ready to kick a ball again.

Robertson, right, who has recovered from Covid and will earn his 56th cap tonight in Austria, said:

“It was 100 percent the right decision to call it off in March. It was impossible to ask Ukraine to play. Life is more important than football and what’s happening over there is tough to watch from afar.

“From a football point of view, it has to be on Ukraine’s terms. It’s about when they are in a position to play.

“But I don’t think it’s fair to ask players to play six games in June when our summer break is already being cut short because of the World Cup during the season.

“A lot has been said about player welfare over the last couple of years and I hope that’s at the front of it.

“All the players are going to have to go through it and to ask players to have only two weeks off in a whole year is unacceptable for me.

“I hope that from a footballing point of view the decision about the games in the summer is taken wisely.

“And whenever Ukraine can play the game then we have to play it, whether that’s September or October or whenever it has to be.”