“The Russian team cannot be absent. If they refused the CAFA tournament, then there should be other games ”- Chistyakov

Zenit defender Dmitry Chistyakov believes that after refusing to participate in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) tournament, the Russian team should still play matches.

Earlier, the Secretary General of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Maxim Mitrofanov, said that the national team would not take part in the CAFA tournament due to the “heavy load on the players.”

– My opinion is that the national team should gather, it cannot be absent in any way, it cannot do this. If this tournament was abandoned, then there should be other games – we will prepare.

– Maxim Mitrofanov spoke about the heavy workload of the players. Is it really true?

“Perhaps this is the case for some. But there are many guys in the country, there are plenty to choose from. I think there are no problems,” Chistyakov told Match TV.

The CAFA Championship will be held from 9 to 21 June in Bishkek and Tashkent. The teams of Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are to play in the tournament.

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