RFU discussed with representatives of the AFC the possibility of moving from Europe to Asia

Russian football leadership took part in the 33rd Congress of the Asian Confederation

On February 1, the 33rd Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) completed its work in the capital of Bahrain, Manama. AFC member associations elected a new composition of the AFC Executive Committee for a period from 2023 to 2027. The representative of Bahrain, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, was elected President of the AFC for the third four-year term, who was the only candidate for this post.

At the invitation of the leadership of the organization, the AFC congress was visited by the President of the Russian Football Union Alexander Dyukov. According to Match TV, together with the President of the RFU in Bahrain were the Secretary General of the RFU Maxim Mitrofanov and the General Director of the Organizing Committees of the 2018 World Cup and the 2020 European Championship in St. Petersburg Alexei Sorokin. The head of the RFU was sitting in the front row next to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Mitrofanov and Sorokin were located not far from them. During the work of the congress, Dyukov discussed with representatives of the Asian football associations the issue of the transfer of the RFU to the AFC.

Commenting on the results of the preliminary consultations, the head of the football department of Saudi Arabia, Yasser Almishal, said that the possibility of Russia’s transition to the AFC will appear only after a thorough study of the consequences of such a decision.

“This really needs to be looked at carefully: what will it add to the continent? What benefits will football in Asia benefit from this move?

In recent years, we have not seen examples of such transitions from one confederation to another. Therefore, a sufficiently in-depth study of this issue will be required to assess whether it makes sense to do this if the RFU submits a real request, ”Almishal told Reuters.

Alexei Sorokin, who attended the AFC congress, added for his part, according to Reuters, that there are speculations that there will be talks between Russian and Asian officials.

At the end of 2022, the RFU executive committee discussed the issue of moving to the AFC, which includes 47 national football associations in Asia, as a possible option, allowing the Russian team and clubs to continue to participate in international competitions.

According to Almishal, so far these are just assumptions.

“Four more members of the FIFA Council were our guests at the congress. I have not heard anything about any intentions of the Russians to take such a step, but if it becomes official, it will be dealt with by the relevant authorities, be it the AFC, FIFA or UEFA. So far, this is all speculation in the media,” Almishal expressed his opinion to Reuters.

“I have always believed that politics should not be mixed with sports, even if we played a friendly match with Russia. This is football. We are sports people, this is not politics. If the AFC executive committee decides that Russia can join, then why not? ”, Ravshan Irmatov, vice-president of the Football Association of Uzbekistan, who joined the AFC in 1994 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, also said, who was present at the AFC congress .