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Russia’s football chief Dyukov rules out Russia-Paraguay friendly match until 2026

The Russian national football team was scheduled to play a friendly football match against Paraguay on March 25, but the game was called off following a deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. A recently suspended international fixture between the teams of Russia and Paraguay will be played either in 2025 or 2026, the head of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Alexander Dyukov told journalists on Friday.

The Russian national football team was scheduled to play a friendly football match against Paraguay on March 25, but the game was called off following a deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region on earlier that month.

"We had a deal of playing a match against Paraguay," he said. "It’s impossible to organize the match this year. It will be certainly possible to be held in 2025 or 2026."

"We have opted for a one-way decision to play a single match this spring," he said." This is why it will be a friendly match against the Belarusian team in Minsk."

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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