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Russian, Serbian national futsal teams to play two friendlies next month in St. Petersburg

According to the RFU, both matches will be played within the framework of the Russian national futsal training camp in Saint Petersburg

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. The Russian national futsal team will play two friendly matches next month against Serbia, the Russian Football Union’s (RFU) said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the RFU, both matches will be played within the framework of the Russian national futsal training camp in Saint Petersburg. The first friendly match against Serbia is preliminary scheduled to start at 17:00 local time (2:00 p.m. GMT) on April 13 and the second match is expected to be played on April 15 with the kick-off time at 16:00 local time (1:00 p.m. GMT).

Last year, the national futsal teams of both countries played two friendly matches as well with the first one ending with the scoreless draw and with the Serbian side winning the other one 2-1.

The Russian national team was the winner of the 1999 UEFA Futsal Championship and the runner-up in the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. In all, the Russian national squad has qualified for seven FIFA Futsal World Cups in the periods 1992-2000 and 2008-2021.

On March 21, the Russian national football team played a friendly football match against Serbia in Moscow and the hosting side enjoyed the win of 4-0. The match between the national squads of Russia and Serbia was played at the over 25,700-seat capacity VTB-Arena and, according to media reports, 23,679 people were in attendance.

Russia’s football ban

The International Association Football Federation (FIFA) announced on February 28, 2022 that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from taking part in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision in regard to the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a host of friendlies against other countries. In 2023, Russia played friendly matches against Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Qatar (1-1), Cameron (1-0), Kenya (2-2), Cuba (8-0), Serbia (4-0).

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