MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. /TASS/. Russian football club Zenit Saint Petersburg is set to play next year an away friendly match against Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda FC, the Russian club’s press office reported on Monday.

According to the Russian club’s press service, the match is scheduled to be played on March 23 in Belgrade and the game kicks off at 7:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. GMT).

St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, hosted on July 1-15 this year a friendly pre-season football tournament, the Pari Premier Cup, which features matches among Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg FC, Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda FC, Turkey’s Fenerbahce FC and Azerbaijan’s Neftchi FC.

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.