The Russian Football Union (UFR) announced this Friday that it wants to create a working group with UEFA to organize the return of the Russian team and clubs to international competitions, from which they were expelled 10 months ago ago because of the invasion from Ukraine. Russia has threatened to leave UEFA to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This was confirmed by the president of the UFR, Alexandr Diukov.
The UFR had earlier postponed a vote to decide whether to resign from UEFA due to the need for further consultation on Russia’s potential entry into the AFC.
“The executive committee of the UFR has decided to propose to UEFA to form a working group,” Diukov told a news conference in Moscow.
According to Diukov, this group must find solutions “to resolve as soon as possible the question of the return of Russian clubs and national teams to official international tournaments.” And the UFR president continued: “We are studying the possibility of returning to UEFA competitions,” he continued, adding that three representatives from UEFA and others from FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be invited to participate. in this working group. .
“It is important for us to participate in the qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup,” Alexandr Diukov also said.
This announcement comes as the Russian federation has increased, in recent weeks, signals about a possible departure from UEFA to join the Asian Football Confederation, which would have significant economic consequences for the Russian club. However this Friday Diukov has not fully ruled out this possibility, if negotiations with UEFA fail.
“We can redirect to Asia, but we need a decision from FIFA to participate in the 2026 World Cup, we can find a faster agreement through this working group,” Diukov explained. For the leader, this working group with UEFA should be “a sign that the bridges are not broken and that we can try to find solutions to restore our relations; of course, politics influences football, but we’ll see how big”.
The Russian Federation was excluded on February 28, four days after the start of the Kremlin offensive in Ukraine, from all competitions organized by UEFA. In early May, UEFA announced that “no Russian club” will participate in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League for the 2022-2023 season.
In mid-September, the UFR also confirmed that it will not be able to participate in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, which are scheduled to start next March.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
