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Team of Russian referees led by Levnikov cleared to work 2023 CAFA Championship

On February 28, 2022, the UEFA and the FIFA barred Russian clubs and teams from participating in international competitions due to the situation around Ukraine

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. A team of Russian referees, led by Kirill Levnikov, was cleared to officiate matches at the upcoming Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championship, the press office of the Russian Football Union (RFU) reported on Tuesday.

Levnikov, 39, has been an officially licensed FIFA referee since 2016. He previously officiated matches for the UEFA Champions League as well as the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro Cup tournaments. Levnikov’s assistant referees are Yegor Bolkhovitin and Andrey Vereteshkin.

RFU Secretary General Maxim Mitrofanov stated in mid-April that the Russian Football Union (RFU) was ready to consider the possibility of having national referees officiate the upcoming Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championship if a relevant request was submitted.

Last Thursday, CAFA’s press office spokesman told TASS that Russian football referees would not be officiating any matches of the 2023 CAFA Championship. "Russian referees will not be officiating at the CAFA tournament in June," the spokesperson said on May 11. "We usually invite referees who represent the countries participating in the tournament."

Mitrofanov announced to journalists on April 18 that the Russian national football team had decided against participating in the 2023 CAFA Championship.

The CAFA Championship will be held in Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek and Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, from June 9-21. The tournament will bring together the national teams of Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. One more national team from Asia is supposed to be invited.

CAFA was established in June 2014 and is one of five regional governing bodies within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In addition to CAFA, the AFC also encompasses the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF), the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) and the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).

On February 28, 2022, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) barred Russian clubs and teams from participating in international competitions due to the situation around Ukraine.

Since then, the Russian national football team has played five friendly matches, against Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Kyrgyzstan (2-1), Tajikistan (0-0) and Uzbekistan (0-0).

Russian Football Union President Alexander Dyukov announced in late November 2022 that, in light of the barring of Russia’s national teams and football clubs from UEFA and FIFA competitions, the RFU was looking at joining the Asian Football Confederation.

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