Scotland’s Nations League tie with Ukraine could DOUBLE UP as World Cup play-off as FIFA and UEFA consider options
UEFA and FIFA are considering an incredible proposal which would see Scotland’s Nations League clash with Ukraine double up as the World Cup play-off.
Steve Clarke’s men are scheduled to play the war-torn country in a Nations League group game at Hampden on June 7.
And SunSport can reveal there’s been an idea tabled which would see the teams go head-to-head with TWO fixtures becoming one.
It’s one of the suggestions being discussed by football chiefs in a bid to get the semi-final played as quickly as possible.
Wales are waiting to discover who they’ll face for a play at Qatar 2022, which kicks off in November.
UEFA and FIFA are looking at every possible idea - while taking into consideration the humanitarian atrocities taking place in Ukraine.
Sensitive talks have been taking place behind closed doors for weeks.
And this proposal is seen as a possibility as it would mean there is one less fixture to squeeze into the calendar.
And yet no firm decision has been made with various alternatives on the table.
But both Scotland and Ukraine officials have been made aware that it’s being discussed as an option.
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The idea would potentially cost the SFA a small fortune in ticket sales.
Hampden is already a 50,000 sell-out for the play-off clash, which was originally scheduled for last month.
Packages have also been sold for the Nations League games.
Staging one home match instead of two would see the SFA lose out on around £2million in ticket sales.
However, with the plight of Ukraine at the forefront of everyone’s minds in discussions, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell will NOT use that as a reason to block the idea.
His main argument centres around making sure sporting fairness is upheld for all the nations involved.
Scotland skipper Andy Robertson spoke last week and insisted player welfare had to be taken into consideration.
With that in mind the SFA are determined to make sure there is a four-day gap between matches at least.
Meanwhile, Scotland could be without Kieran Tierney and Nathan Patterson for the World Cup play-offs, when they are eventually played.