New Zealand's Futsal Whites have forfeited a scheduled international fixture against Russia at the Continental Futsal Championship in Thailand after New Zealand Football decided not to play the Russian team because of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
According to a report by Stuff, the match was officially recorded as a 3-0 default victory to Russia after New Zealand withdrew from the fixture. Tournament organisers confirmed the decision in a post on Thailand Futsal's official Facebook page.
New Zealand Football said it had accepted an invitation to participate in the tournament months before the list of competing nations was finalised.
In a statement, the organisation said, “New Zealand Football elected not to play Russia due to their invasion of Ukraine and the fact they remain banned from participating in international FIFA competitions,” Stuff has quoted.
Russia remains suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, although the country continues to play international friendly matches outside official FIFA tournaments, Stuff has reported.
Before departing for Thailand, the Futsal Whites announced they would compete in a round-robin tournament but only listed matches against hosts Thailand, Vietnam and Afghanistan. No fixture against Russia appeared in the team's published schedule.
The New Zealand side has endured a difficult tournament so far, suffering a 6-0 defeat to Thailand before losing 4-1 to Vietnam. Their only goal of the competition was scored by Adam Paulsen, brother of All Whites goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, as reported by Stuff.
The Futsal Whites are scheduled to play their final match of the tournament against Afghanistan on Thursday night (NZT), as reported by Stuff.
Russia, currently ranked seventh in FIFA's men's futsal rankings, entered the tournament as the highest-ranked team, while New Zealand is ranked 47th in the world.
The decision to forfeit the match reflects New Zealand Football's position on Russia's participation in international sport following the Ukraine conflict, despite Russia's involvement in non-FIFA-sanctioned international fixtures in recent years, as reported by Stuff.