HANOI, August 15. /TASS/. Russia will play Vietnam in a football friendly on September 5, the Vietnamese-based The National daily reported on Thursday.

According to the daily, the national football team of Vietnam is also scheduled to play a friendly against Thailand on September 10.

Russian sports daily Sport-Express reported earlier in the month that the national teams of Russia, Vietnam and Thailand intended to participate in a three-nation football tournament. According to the daily, the Russians will play against Vietnam on September 5, and the Thai national team will have its friendly with Vietnam on September 10.

The matches are scheduled to be hosted by the over 40,200-seat capacity My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.

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, namely against Kyrgyzstan (2-1), Tajikistan (0-0), Uzbekistan (0-0), Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Cameroon (1-0), Kenya (2-2), Cuba (8-0), Serbia (4-0) and Belarus 4-0.