The Russian football team invited to take part in a tournament
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian football teams have been banned from European competitions and FIFA. However, the Tajikistan Football Federation announced on Monday that the Russian men’s team could take part in the new Central Asian Football Confederation (CAFA) regional tournament in June.
Russia would play alongside seven other national teams: the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as Afghanistan, Iran and one other country yet to be announced. The games are scheduled to take place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Founded in 2014, CAFA is one of the five regional federations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), headquartered in Tajikistan. She held a women’s championship and a junior championship last year.
According to the Tajik Football Union, Russia has already accepted the invitation to the men’s tournament in June. But the Football Union of Russia told state media: “We are currently discussing the possibility and conditions of participation of the Russian national team in this tournament. »
This decision will reignite debate over Russia’s possible entry into the Asian Football Confederation as the country seeks to rejoin international competition. In January, the President of the Russian Football Union, Alexander Dyukov, rescinded his December threat to join the AFC after meeting with European football officials. No solution found yet. Mr Dyukov attended the AFC Congress in Bahrain last month where he met with its Chairman, Sheikh Salman Al Khalifa.
“We have good relations with the Russian Federation and the other European federations and we are always in touch with the federations on all occasions,” Al Salman said after the meeting. “We want to serve the best interests of football and strive to keep politics out of football. »
Russia’s men’s side have played just three international friendlies in 2022, against Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is scheduled to meet with Iran and Iraq later this month.
Most Olympic sports have barred athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had initially recommended excluding them for safety reasons, but now says keeping those restrictions in place would be discriminatory.
Last month, 35 countries signed a statement criticizing the IOC’s plan to allow Russians and Belarusians to resume competition ahead of qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympics as neutral athletes without national symbols.