MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Members of the Executive Committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU) at their Wednesday session voted against the country becoming a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Russia’s senior sports official told TASS.

"No, there will be no Asia. Russia is part of Europe and we will win. We have decided against joining [the confederation of] Asia and this decision received unanimous support," RFU Vice President Alhmed Aidarov said.

Commenting on the decision, President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Alexander Dyukov said that Russia’s governing body of football was likely to return next year to considering the issue of joining the Asian Football Confederation.

"Next year we can review this issue and bid once again for the membership in the Asian Football Confederation," Dyukov told journalists. "However, our UEFA's joint group is still operational."

"If speaking about our current stance, I should say that the work continues and our attempts to bring back our teams under UEFA’s supervision speak for their interest," Dyukov added.

The International Federation of Football Associations (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.

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made the same 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 being the reason for their decisions.

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a host of friendlies against other countries.

Russian Football Union (RFU) President Alexander Dyukov announced in November 2022 that because of Russia’s suspension from UEFA and FIFA competitions for its national teams and football clubs, the RFU was looking at joining the Asian Football Confederation.

The Central Asian Football Federation (CAFA) was established in June 2014 and it is one of five regional bodies of governance within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Besides CAFA, the AFC also includes the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF), the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) and the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).