“Probably found a more interesting tournament” – Balakhnin on the refusal of the RFU to play in the CAFA championship

Former Rostov head coach Sergei Balakhnin believes that the Russian Football Union could refuse to participate in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) tournament, because it found a more interesting tournament for the national team.

On Tuesday, the Secretary General of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Maxim Mitrofanov, said that the Russian team would not take part in the CAFA tournament due to the “heavy load on the players.” The teams of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are to play in the tournament this summer.

– The transition to Asia did not take place? I think no. It is probably too early to draw any conclusions. Maybe they found some kind of tournament that would be more interesting.

With whom can the Russian team play? Maybe with some other Brazilian national team. Because top players in top teams play in the main team and it will be unrealistic to pull them out of there. It is unlikely that they will play with us.

It is realistic for us to play with some Brazilian team. But then again, they have games in the summer, and we have a pause. We have winter, there is summer. Everything is not easy here,” Balakhnin told Euro‑Football.Ru.

Russian teams and clubs have been suspended from tournaments under the auspices of the Union of European Associations (UEFA) and the International Football Federation (FIFA) due to the situation in Ukraine.

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