Aleksandr Dyukov, the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), has recognised that the current UEFA sanctions may force his organisation to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Due to UEFA and FIFA sanctions that were initially imposed in February as a result of the war in Ukraine, Russian national teams and football clubs are currently barred from participating in international competitions.
Due to the circumstance, there has been an increase in discussion over the RFU switching to AFC-sponsored events.
Dyukov stated that the AFC is “currently ready to welcome us” following an RFU executive committee meeting on Friday in Moscow.
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“Naturally, no one is ready now to give a written guarantee that we will be accepted, but they are ready to consider our appeal and the guarantee of admission is high. This requires an appeal and a decision by a majority vote,” Dyukov told reporters.
“As for the change of confederation, formally it does not apply to FIFA. Informally, the consent of FIFA will be required. At the moment, we have information that FIFA will not be against the transfer of the RFU from UEFA to the AFC.”
Following the discussion of the proposal, RFU vice-president Igor Kamenskoy announced that a decision regarding whether to try the changeover would be made by videoconference on December 27.
According to Dyukov, the RFU has until December 31 to submit a withdrawal request from UEFA in order for the Russian men’s national team to potentially qualify for the Asian phase of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
“If we don’t do this now, and later decide on the transition, then the next tournament for the national teams will be a cycle from 2027. Delaying the decision by a few days means that the national teams could lose four years,” Dyukov said.
“Since the summer, it was understood that there was a possibility of a transition. But we had time. No one has ever left UEFA. If you look at their regulations, they simply did not allow it, and there is no clearly defined ‘what if’ algorithm.”
“There are a number of conditions,” added the RFU’s secretary general, Maxim Mitrofanov.
“The letter does not mean an automatic exit. If the conditions, among other things, are not met, then the exit [from UEFA] will not take place.”
Dyukov stated that “unfortunately” he sees the RFU ideologically “at odds with Europe.”
“Politics is in first place [in Europe], football has faded into the background. We saw this at the World Cup in Qatar. Today they [Europe] are not satisfied with this situation, tomorrow they will ask questions about human rights, the day after tomorrow it will turn out that we are not energetically supporting the LGBT movement, and this will also be the basis for a boycott,” Dyukov added.
Dyukov emphasised that “this is not a situation where we are attempting to blackmail someone” when asked if the RFU moving to the AFC could be seen as a last warning to UEFA.
“First of all, we must think about ourselves, about the players and fans… UEFA has done a lot for the development of football in the world, in our country. Despite the suspension, they helped us a lot with the funding of various programs.
“We believe that, despite the lack of opportunity to play, we have partnership relations, [and] we respect the leadership of UEFA.
“European national football associations are under pressure from the media and politicians. Everyone understands that sport should be [kept] out of politics, but they can’t do anything,” Dyukov added.
“Now UEFA sees no reason to reconsider the decision [on the suspension]. They are waiting for the stabilization of the political situation. At the same time, it is not a fact that in the event of stabilization it will be possible to immediately remove all restrictions.”
Dyukov was unable to guarantee that AFC members Japan and Australia would agree to play against Russia, as was the case in the Qatar 2022 World Cup playoffs with teams like Poland and Sweden. This is because Japan and Australia might be regarded as “unfriendly” nations.
But if we compare the situation in Asia and Europe, it is different,” Dyukov said.
“When there are 48 associations in Asia and two or three of them say they won’t play with us, it’s one thing. When there are more than half of them, they begin to dictate terms.”
Dyukov maintained that it is preferable to perform under a neutral status than to not perform at all, whether in Europe or Asia.
“Everyone wants to perform under their own flag and with an anthem, but if you have to choose between not playing at all or playing without a flag and an anthem, then it’s better to play without a flag and an anthem,” Dyukov said.
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