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Russia may play friendly football match against Brazil this fall — portal

Russia has not lost a single friendly football match since the introduced sanctions of world football authorities and boasts a goaltending clean sheet over the most recent eight matches

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 6. /TASS/. The national football teams of Russia and Brazil may play a friendly match this fall, Band.com.br web portal reported on Tuesday.

The portal posted a letter that was forwarded by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to the Russian Football Union (RFU). It states that the Brazilian national team will be available for matches from October 6 to 14 and from November 10 to 18.

"The national team’s board will be mobilized to work on the organization of the match. We believe that the cooperation between the CBF and the RFU will be fundamental for strengthening ties and further development of the global football ecosystem," the letter reads.

The Russian national football team will play a friendly match against Nigeria on June 6 at the 81,000-seat capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and on June 10, Russia is set to play an away friendly match against the national squad of Belarus.

Russia has not lost a single friendly football match since the introduced sanctions of world football authorities and boasts a goaltending clean sheet over the most recent eight matches played against Cuba (8-0), Serbia (4-0), Belarus (4-0), Vietnam (3-0), Brunei (11-0), Syria (4-0), Grenada (5-0) and Zambia (5-0).

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.

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