MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. /TASS/. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has promptly granted its approval to a friendly football match between the national teams of Russia and Serbia, a senior official with the Russian Football Union (RFU) said on Wednesday.

"This match must take place as there were many situations over the past two years and we are not surprised at anything anymore," RFU Secretary General Maxim Mitrofanov said in an interview with Russia’s Sport-Express daily. "There are no legal obstructions to holding this match."

"We have a bilateral agreement signed by both parties and it was approved by the world’s governing football body [FIFA] and UEFA," he continued. "There are no signs at the moment that the match may be cancelled. The very fact that a match against the Serbian team is taking place on Russia’s soil is very significant."

"As far as I remember, it was the most prompt approval on UEFA’s behalf. On the other hand, what was there to inquire about when two UEFA national teams turned to the organization asking to hold a match on UEFA’s territory? What was there to think about? They agreed," Mitrofanov added.

The RFU’s press office reported last week that the friendly match between the national squads of Russia and Serbia would be played at the over 25,700-seat capacity VTB-Arena in the Russian capital of Moscow on March 21 with the start time to be announced later.

On December 20, 2023, RFU President Alexander Dyukov announced that the RFU and the Football Association of Serbia (FAS) had agreed to hold a friendly football match between the national teams in 2024.

However, on December 21, 2023, the press office of the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) press office announced that the Ukrainian Football Association (UFA) has turned to the world’s governing football body, FIFA, as well as to UEFA with a request to step in and bar in advance the friendly football match between Russia and Serbia.

President of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) Shamil Tarpishchev earlier told TASS that he had already extended an invitation to World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic of Serbia to come to the Russian capital and attend the friendly football match between Russia and Serbia.

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.