The problems of the team will not go anywhere

UEFA prevented Russia from playing the World Cup qualifying play-offs after some teams struck a pose. Our clubs also lost the right to play in European competitions. FIFA supported UEFA in this decision. It is not clear what the AFC and RFU are going to do if the teams that are unfriendly to us refuse to play with our team already in Asia.

It is very unlikely that Asian officials will take our side and disqualify the conditional teams of Australia, Japan and South Korea, who played at the last World Cup in Qatar.

But even if this problem can be solved within Asia, what will football functionaries do if we get to the next World Cup, which will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico? The Americans will almost certainly not let our team in, and many other teams may refuse to play with us, as the Poles did.

Big questions arise on the documentary side. In history, there have not yet been cases of the transition of football federations from Europe to Asia. Legal mechanisms are certainly not worked out and will take a lot of time.

If the transition will be delayed for a long time, then why do it at all? On the other hand, when the political situation settles down and the RFU has a chance to return to Europe, then a lot of time will have to be spent on the reverse transition again. Will officials do this?

Big problems for clubs

The situation with the participation of Russian teams in Asian club tournaments is also not obvious. First of all, the financial possibilities of the local Champions League are striking. Bonuses for performances differ significantly for the worse – the difference is crazy. Clubs in Europe earn as much per game as clubs in Asia earn in an entire tournament.

Global changes in logistics also need to be taken into account, but almost no one talks about this. Many hours of flights to Vietnam or Indonesia will definitely not please the players. This will significantly reduce the desire of players to play in the Russian championship.

There is no need to talk about the natural problems that arise after long flights. The load on the teams acting on two fronts will obviously increase. Most likely, this will lead to an increase in trauma and a drop in results.

dead end option

The transition to AFC raises a lot of questions to be resolved. Perhaps the desire of the RFU to move to Asia is a dead end scenario. Apparently, they understand this in the RFU, given the next postponement of the decision. In these difficult times, it is better not to make any sudden movements. We need to leave everything as it is and engage in the development of Russian football.

We are able to develop our own football without participating in international tournaments. The experience of the USSR shows that both without FIFA and without UEFA, our players can develop organically. Even after a long isolation, it is possible to show good results, which was proved by the Soviet team at the Olympics, World and European Championships.

Moving to Asia does not look like a panacea for solving today’s problems. We need to slowly understand the situation and make the right decision, which will benefit the entire Russian football.