MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. The Russian national men’s volleyball team plans to play an exhibition match against Italy in August, Russian Volleyball Federation (VFB) Secretary General Alexander Yaremenko told TASS on Thursday.
"It was Russia’s initiative to organize a friendly match with Italy and the Italian Volleyball Federation seemed amenable to this," Yaremenko said. "They have filed an application with the Italian Olympic Committee regarding the organization of this match. Now we're waiting for their decision."
"Speaking about the dates [for the match], we are looking at late August," he added.
The Russian national men’s volleyball team is scheduled to play a friendly against Serbia on June 1. A day earlier, on May 31, the Russian national women’s volleyball team will also face off against their Serbian opponents in a friendly match.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.