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The Polish defence minister said on Friday that having a Polish Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft escort the airliner carrying Poland’s World Cup Squad to Qatar sent a strong signal of support while also taking part in a military exercise.
Photographs of the F-16 flying alongside the airliner had prompted speculation in the foreign press that it was on duty to ward of threats stemming from the Russian-Ukraine war.
Mariusz Blaszczak explained that the escort mission just had a practical role.
“The most important tasks of our F-16 pilots are exercises and training, and yesterday such an exercise took place. That’s it,”
he said.
At the same time, Blaszczak added, “this was such a good way of showing support for our players”.
“We hope that our players will achieve a lot. It is a very good team, great players, so we show them support,”
he summed up.
Poland will face Mexico in its first Group C match on November 22.