The head of the Ministry of Sports said that Russian football would benefit from moving to Asia

Moscow, December 22 – “The transition of the Russian Football Union (RFU) to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will have a positive impact on the development of sports in the country,” said Sports Minister Oleg Matitsyn during a video bridge at MIPC MIA. Today ”, dedicated to the results of the implementation of the Russian-Chinese cooperation plan in the field of physical education and sports in 2022.

In November, the President of the Russian Federation, Alexander Dyukov, said that at a meeting of the organization’s executive committee on December 23, the issue of moving to the AFC would be considered.

“It is difficult to say whether this will strengthen the AFC, time will tell. But the World Cup showed that teams that were not taken seriously before showed beautiful football. And if Russia participates in the new process, it will benefit. But the decision is up to the RFU and organizations. others involved in such operations.

Earlier, FIFA and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) published a joint statement according to which Russian teams and clubs were suspended from participating in all international competitions indefinitely. In this regard, the Russian national team was excluded from the number of participants in the qualifiers for entering the World Cup in Qatar. In mid-July, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected the Russian Federation’s appeals against FIFA and UEFA decisions. In September, UEFA decided not to let the Russian national team into the qualifying draw for Euro-2024.