Russia withdraws from international football tournament
The Russian national football team will not take part in an upcoming international tournament hosted by the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) this summer, the head of the Russian Football Union (RFS), Maksim Mitrofanov, told journalists on Tuesday. The official cited “organizational difficulties,” along with the high physical load on the team as reasons behind the move.
“We have sent an official letter to CAFA and informed our colleagues,” Mitrofanov said. The championship would present “too much of a load for the players,” he explained, adding that it would be hot at the tournament location and the team would not have enough time to rest between certain matches.
The CAFA tournament will be held in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek and the Uzbek capital, Tashkent from June 9-21. Teams from Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will take part. One more Asian national team could also be invited, according to TASS.
The CAFA was established in 2014 and is part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which also includes four other regional associations: The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), East Asian Football Federation (EAFF), South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), and West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).
Russian football clubs, including the national team, were barred from UEFA and FIFA competitions indefinitely last year amid the conflict with Ukraine. The bans saw Russia excluded from qualifying for next year’s UEFA European Championships, and barred from last year’s World Cup in Qatar.
The Russian national team has played three friendly matches since the FIFA/UEFA suspension. It defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in September, but was held to 0-0 draws against both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in November. A match against Iran in March also ended in a 1-1 draw.
