A match between the national teams of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Russia, originally scheduled for 19 November in St. Petersburg, has been "rescheduled to a later date," the Bosnian Football Federation announced on Monday.
The federation gave no further explanation.
On announcing in September that the two teams would play each other one day before the start of the football World Cup, the federation had met with a barrage of criticism due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Detractors included the mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, who threatened to cancel cooperation between the Bosnian capital and the football federation.
“We strongly oppose the decision to organise a friendly match against Russia. Sarajevo, as a city, has long been occupied by an aggressor,” Karic said in a reference to Serbian rule over the city during the Bosnian war (1992-1995).
Players such as Bosnian star Miralem Pjanic also spoke out against the match.
Because of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been excluded from all competitions by FIFA and UEFA. Bosnia, for its part, was unable to qualify for the World Cup.
