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More countries wish to see Russia’s football return to int’l arena — RFU chief Dyukov

"I will abstain from naming any specific events that may result in possible changes regarding the eligibility of Russian national football teams," Alexander Dyukov said

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. A number of countries supporting the return of Russian football clubs and national teams to international tournaments increases with every month, President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Alexander Dyukov said on Friday.

"I will abstain from naming any specific events that may result in possible changes regarding the eligibility of Russian national [football] teams," he said. "The autumn season is the resumption of football seasons on many continents, so many football officials become active at that time, attending various meetings and conventions."

"It is my perception, which is based on my experience and on the assessment of the current developments, the opinion of different football authorities keeps changing," he said. "In my opinion, the number of countries that keep supporting us is on the increase with every month."

Dyukov also said that the Russian Football Union planned organizing two home friendly football matches until the end of 2024.

"We are holding talks about the Russian national team’s matches in October and November," Dyukov said. "You all know well about our approach and as soon as we give our consent and sign the relative deals, we will make our announcements."

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) Belarus 4-0 and Vietnam (3-0).

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In all, there are 32 items

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