Russian football has been in global isolation for more than six months. Our team was banned from participating in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, clubs were banned from playing in European competitions, and foreign players have been pumped out of our league for a year now.

It is not surprising that in recent months the patience of the Russians has snapped – they no longer want to endure endless sanctions from European sports officials in the RFU. The Union seriously set its sights on moving to the Asian Federation – and here for the first time UEFA realized it. It seems that Europe still does not want to lose the Russian market.

Will be asking to come back soon!

Russian football ban

In March of this year, Russian football found itself in forced isolation. UEFA has deprived our teams and clubs of the right to play in European tournaments. As a result of these draconian measures, Valery Karpin’s team never got a chance to qualify for the World Championship. Suspension overtook the team right during the qualifying round.

Lost the right to play in European competition and our clubs. Last season, Spartak was removed from the run in the middle of the playoffs of the Europa League, and not a single Russian team was allowed to the current campaign. At the same time, the RPL frankly plundered foreign clubs. This came after allowing foreign players to unilaterally suspend contracts. Many teams were left without leading players, for whom a lot of money was paid.

Naturally, Russian football could not stay in such conditions for a long time. Soon there were talks about the possible transition of the RFU to Asia. Our teams would have a real opportunity to compete in the international arena, and not stew in their own juice.

Photo: © Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“UEFA management strongly opposes”

Toward the end of autumn, substantive discussions of the option with Asia began on the Russian football sidelines. The longer our football is in isolation, the stronger the rhetoric in favor of moving to the AFC.

In Europe, apparently, they are used to thinking that getting into UEFA is the dream of most federations. Perhaps they expected that Russia would wait until the very end for mercy from European football officials. But the variant with Asia that appeared in earnest excited the UEFA functionaries. According to the publication “Championat”, they have a negative view of the possible transition.

– The UEFA leadership strongly opposes the withdrawal of the RFU from its confederation. According to our sources, UEFA, despite the current situation, does not want to lose Russia’s membership in its organization. UEFA is in favor of an option in which, after the geopolitical situation is reduced, Russian football will begin to integrate into European football again, the newspaper writes.

Indeed, the concern of officials is understandable. Russia is a large and promising market. A huge audience of fans annually generates significant income for UEFA from the sale of television rights. In addition, the participation of Russian teams made it possible to more actively attract large sponsors. Departure to Asia will significantly reduce interest in European football. So, it seems that in order to retain a valuable member of the association, UEFA will have to take a step towards the RFU, and at best, lift sanctions. In the end, it will come to this anyway.