The Russian national football team returned to the international arena with a match against the Kyrgyz team. The future prospects of our team, however, are questionable: Bosnia and Herzegovina is still hesitating, and no other rivals are visible on the horizon.

But the wards of Valery Karpin still retain the chances of a trip to Qatar. We can play in the World Cup arena before many!

“FIFA would be interesting”

Russian football players had a chance to qualify for the World Cup through play-offs. Valery Karpin’s team had to play in Moscow against Poland, and in case of victory, take the winner of the confrontation between the Czech Republic and Sweden. But FIFA sharply opposed such prospects, agreeing with the recommendation of the IOC to temporarily exclude Russians from world sports.

The attempt of the Russian side to achieve the truth in the courts did not lead to anything. As a result, the Poles were selected for the World Cup, and our footballers are still forced to be content with friendly matches, with difficulty looking for rivals. However, there is still a chance to travel to Qatar. Acting Secretary General of the RFU Maxim Mitrofanov allowed the option of holding a match with Iran at one of the stadiums of the upcoming World Cup.

– While there is a preliminary correspondence, but the venue of the match has not yet been determined. Tehran is the simplest guess. For a number of reasons, it would be interesting for us to play in Qatar, because we were artificially and illegally deprived of the right to officially qualify for the World Cup and play in this country. FIFA, too, would probably be interested in checking the readiness of the stadiums in combat mode, – Mitrofanov is quoted by Match TV.

Compensation for injustice

Although the venue for the match with Iran has not yet been finally determined, the option with Qatar should suit all interested parties. The Iranians will be able to get used to the new conditions in advance even before the start of the World Cup. The Qatari organizers and FIFA will indeed get a chance to test the arenas before the start of the tournament. And for Russian athletes, a trip to Doha is also, to some extent, a positive moment – a kind of partial compensation for injustice.

Photo: © RFS

The decisive word in this matter, however, is not for Russia. Perhaps the Iranians will want to postpone the trip and decide to play in front of their fans. It is likely that the Qataris will not risk taking on an additional load before the most important event. In FIFA, on the other hand, they simply may not want to actively interact with Russia.

Fortunately, the department of Gianni Infantino does not play a major role in organizing a friendly meeting. If the Iranians agree to a neutral territory, and the Qataris do not mind additional trouble, our players will have a real chance to play in one of the World Cup arenas. Moreover, it will be possible to do it earlier than others.