Russia to host Bosnia in November friendly, sparking criticism from star player Pjanic

The game will take place in St Petersburg on November 19th, one day before the World Cup in Qatar is scheduled to start.

Russia's national teams were barred from international competition over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation".

Bosnia failed to qualify for the World Cup.

"The decision is not good. I am speechless,” Pjanic was quoted as saying by Bosnian media. "In the national Football Association, they know what I think."

The former Juventus and Barcelona player has made 107 international appearances since his debut in 2008. He now plays for Al Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

The mayor of Bosnia's capital Sarajevo, Benjamina Karic, also reacted negatively on social media to the decision.

"Sarajevo as the city which has been under the longest siege from aggressors and me as a mayor strongly condemn the decision by the national Football Association to play a friendly match with Russia," she posted on Twitter.

"Unless the decision is reversed, we will cease cooperation with the Football Association, which so far has been fruitful."

Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic all said they would not play their World Cup qualifiers against Russia back in March before Russia's national teams were banned from international competition.