VLADIVOSTOK, September 5. /TASS/. A possible friendly football match between the national teams of Paraguay and Russia may be organized next year, Russian Football Union (RFU) President Alexander Dyukov said on Thursday.

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 earlier that month.

"That match was postponed due to well-known reasons," Dyukov said speaking on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia’s Vladivostok.

"We are currently in discussions on the possible date for this match," he said. "We have a principled agreement on holding this match and we are planning to hold it next year."

About 2024 Eastern Economic Forum

The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) is underway on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok on September 3-6, 2024. The main theme of the EEF in 2024 is "Far East 2030. Combining strengths to create new potential."

The EEF is one of the largest international conferences in Russia. It has been held in the Primorsky Region’s Russky Island in Vladivostok since 2015. The Forum is the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who decreed that the event be held annually.

The forum's objectives and goals include promoting the accelerated growth of Russia’s Far East region; assessing its potential for exports; expanding international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region; showcasing the investment appeal of the region, its steadily progressing territories, and the Vladivostok free port.

The Roscongress Foundation has served as the Forum’s organizer since 2016. TASS is the general information partner of the EEF.

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.