Scotland Women 'open to any potential solution' to Ukraine qualifier, according to boss Losa

The manager said the SFA are working with UEFA

Pedro Martinez Losa
Author: Press AssociationPublished 30th Mar 2022

Scotland Women boss Pedro Martinez Losa is "open to all" solutions to their World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

The Scots had been due to travel to Ukraine for the fixture on April 8 before the visit of group leaders Spain to Hampden Park four days later.

UEFA rescheduled the game against Ukraine for June 24, the same month Scotland's men hope to play their rescheduled World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine at Hampden Park, but there remains some doubt over whether either of those games will take place.

After naming his squad for the game against Spain, whom Scotland trail by five points in the play-off spot, Martinez Losa said: "We are totally co-operating with FIFA and UEFA to find the best option.

"We are lucky to not be in conflict, so we are open to any potential solution.

"Obviously the June window is the immediate solution and we are happy that this solution has been given, but I don't have the answer.

"I don't know if it is possible the game can be played in June, so we are open to all the potential solutions to facilitate the game being played.

"But there are things more important than a game of football that have to be sorted and it is not in our hands and hopefully for the good of society and life, this can be sorted.

"Obviously, on the other side, there is the sport side of having to compete and move with the competition and we would like to have some clarity about our situation so we can plan, probably the same situation as the men."

The Spaniard stressed the relative unimportance of football amid Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine.

He said: "There are things more important than a game of football.

"We show our solidarity to Ukraine and hopefully the conflict can be sorted.

"We obviously have the game rescheduled and hopefully we can play on the date that it has been rescheduled, that would mean the (Ukraine) situation has been sorted out, that would be a good sign.

"Of course we sympathise with the situation and we are looking forward to finding a solution to the conflict first and then we can play the game.

"Situations like this make us reflect about life and the important things in life.

"We are all humans and it doesn't matter what nationality, what country we are, we should all have the possibility to have a life, have a house, to have a safe environment, especially for civilians, for kids."