(Reuters) – The Russian Football Union’s (RFU) Executive Committee members have not expressed their intention to switch to the Asian confederation even as the country remains suspended by European soccer body UEFA, RFU head Alexander Dyukov said.
Both UEFA and global football’s governing body FIFA had decided in February that all Russian teams – whether national or club sides – would be suspended from participation in their competitions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Was any member of the Executive Committee in favour of Asia? Nobody expressed this position,” Dyukov was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency on Friday.
Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” but the suspension prevented Russia from qualifying for the 2022 men’s World Cup while the women’s team were barred from participating in the European Championship earlier this year.
The move prompted the RFU to discuss making the switch to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
But TASS reported the committee that met on Friday decided to create a working group to interact with FIFA, UEFA and other confederations.
“(The) discussion was not about a transfer to Asia… the executive board made a decision to involve all regulators in order to formulate a consolidated position,” Dyukov added.
The RFU and four Russian clubs had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but their appeals against FIFA and UEFA’s decision to ban them from all competition until further notice were dismissed in July.
The AFC has accepted new members from other confederations in the past, welcoming Australia into their competitions after they left the Oceania confederation in 2006.
