MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Alexander Dyukov, the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), has confirmed that he will run for re-election as the head of the country’s governing football organization after his candidacy was backed by the majority of the RFU’s members, Dyukov told journalists on Friday.
Dyukov's candidacy for the post of president of the RFU has already been supported by 66 members of the national football organization. In accordance with the organization’s charter, a candidate must be nominated by at least five members of the RFU.
"The support I’ve received means I can push forward with my candidacy," Dyukov told journalists. "I will present my platform in the days to come."
"We would like to carry on with the implementation of the football development projects which we have launched in recent years," he pointed out.
The RFU presidential election is slated for February 2. Late last month Dyukov announced his intention to run for another term as president of Russia’s governing football body.
Asked by journalists earlier in the day about possible contenders of Dyukov in the upcoming election, RFU Secretary General Maxim Mitrofanov said he had no information about it.
"December 24 is the deadline set by the election commission to accept applications," he said. "Afterwards proper notifications will be issued regarding each candidate nominated for posts of the president and executive committee members," Mitrofanov said.
Dyukov, 57, the chief executive of Russian oil major Gazprom Neft and ex-chairman of the Board of Directors of Zenit St. Petersburg football club, was elected president of the Russian Football Union in February 2019.
In the period between 2008 and 2017, Dyukov also served as the president of Zenit St. Petersburg FC. During this period, the football club won three national football championships (2010, 2012, 2015), took two Russia Cups (2010, 2016) and also won the 2008 UEFA Cup and the 2008 UEFA Super Cup.
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 Vietnam (3-0), Brunei (11-0) and Syria (4-0).