Russia may leave Europe to play in Asia

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Russian soccer, banned from all international competitions because of the military campaign in Ukraine, will announce on December 27 whether to leave UEFA to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

“Entering the AFC will allow our teams and clubs to return to official tournaments. The decision is complicated and controversial,” admitted Alexandr Diukov, president of the Russian Football Union (UFR), today at a press conference.

The UFR’s executive committee will meet next Tuesday to make a “final decision” on a matter that has divided national soccer.

“Can we wait? How long will we wait? England waited five years? If they tell us a certain deadline, we will organize a poll and vote if we are ready to wait five years. But 10 or 15 year?” he said.

The clubs, in agreement

Diukov, a senior official at the Gazprom gas consortium, stressed that “the majority of clubs” support the move to the AFC, although he recognized the risk of some players changing their citizenship for the same reason.

“We don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right now the AFC is willing to accept us into their midst. Now nobody is willing to give us a written guarantee, but they are willing to study our application. The possibility that they accept we are more How tall,” he said.

UEFA will not review the ban

Meanwhile, Diukov, who attended the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, assured that UEFA made it clear in its consultations with the UFR that “it sees no reason at this time to review its decision” to exclude Russian football and “waits for in stabilizing the political situation.”

He added that the most UEFA can go is to allow the lower sections of the national team to participate in international tournaments, although “there are no guarantees” that this will also develop.

Asia will accept

“We know that FIFA will not oppose us if we move to the AFC,” advanced Diukov, who recalled that the decision must be made before December 31, as this is the only option to participate in the qualifying phase for the World Cup in 2026, which held in the US, Mexico and Canada.

“A delay of a few days in making a decision means that national football could lose four years,” explained Diukov, who has already received the go-ahead from Sports Minister Oleg Matitsin.

Returning to UEFA will not be easy

At the same time, he denied that if he decides in favor of Asia, UEFA’s doors will be closed “forever”, although he admits that Russia cannot return to Europe when it wants to.

The UFR’s honorary president, Viacheslav Koloskov, warned today that resigning from UEFA carries a “big risk” and that it is not certain that the AFC will automatically allow Russia to participate in the World Cup qualifying phase.

Mostovoi, against

Some Russian football legends like Alexandr Mostovói spoke against it, as well as agents, coaches and representatives, but others like Dmitri Sichov or Igor Kolivánov consider that the most important thing is to compete.

The Russian team played its last official match in November 2021 when it lost 1-0 to Croatia. A defeat that condemned him to the World Cup playoffs, which he never disputed because of the intervention in Ukraine.

Since then, the team led by Valeri Karpin has played only three friendly matches against Central Asian teams since September: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Source: La Verdad

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