Russia Invited to Play in Central Asian Soccer Event

SPORTS

There has been a lot of talk about Russia switching to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as the country tries to get back into international competition. Russia has been invited to play in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championship in June.

Since Moscow launched what it described as a “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, Russian teams have been barred from participating in European and FIFA competitions.

The Tajikistan Football Federation (TFF) announced on Monday that Russia, along with six of its member nations and one additional nation that has not yet been confirmed, has been invited to the inaugural men’s tournament of CAFA, which is scheduled for June 9 to June 21, 2023.

CAFF was established in 2014 and is a member of the AFC. It includes Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan’s national federations.

The TFF went on to say that Russia had already accepted the invitation, but the Russian soccer federation (RFU) told the news agency TASS that the team’s participation was under consideration, along with the conditions of it.

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Both the AFC and the CAFA did not immediately respond to inquiries for clarification. Countries from outside the federation are frequently invited to tournaments at regional and continental competitions, such as the Copa America in South America.

From March 20 to March 28, 2023, the women’s Russian Under-17 team will compete in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship.

Aleksander Dyukov, the RFU chief, had talked about switching from UEFA to Asia’s 47-nation confederation so that Russian clubs and national teams could continue competing internationally.