Why are Russia still playing international football despite ban?
- Published
Russia's men's, women's and youth teams remain barred from taking part in matches organised by football's European and world governing bodies.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the nation's men's side has been unable to compete at the 2022 and 2026 Fifa World Cups and Uefa's Euro 2024.
Despite most of Russia's territory sitting in the continent of Asia, the vast majority of the country's clubs and infrastructure sit to the west of the Ural mountains, in Europe. Russia, under the name of the Soviet Union, was a founder member of European governing body Uefa.
During its suspension from Uefa, Russia cannot play in the Euros, Nations League or any qualifiers.
The last official match played by Russia's men under the banner of mainstream competition was a 1-0 defeat by Croatia in a 2022 World Cup qualifying fixture in November 2021.
Of the 58 players called up to play for Russia's men's team in the past 12 months, 53 play for clubs in Russia
What kind of matches are Russia still playing?
Russia haven't completely stopped playing international football. In fact, their men's team drew 1-1 with Nigeria in a friendly at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the men's team have played 16 matches against non-Western nations without needing the permission of Fifa or Uefa.
Fifteen of those matches have been friendlies. They include one-sided victories against the likes of Brunei (11-0), Cuba (8-0), Zambia (5-0) and Syria (4-0).
Other fixtures have been played against former Soviet nations including Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as geopolitical allies like Iran and Serbia.
Russia also participated in a three-team 2024 tournament organised by the Vietnamese Football Federation in Hanoi, alongside Thailand. After beating Vietnam 3-0 in the opening fixture, Russia's match against Thailand was cancelled because of a typhoon, and was never rescheduled.
The current Russia men's manager is Valery Karpin. The former Valencia, Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad winger has been in charge since July 2021.
What about Russia's women's team?
Russia's women have exclusively played friendlies since the ban was first imposed.
In that time they have faced nations who have more friendly relations with Russia than most in the West - including China, Iran, and North Korea - and teams from Latin America.
They have also recently begun facing Russian club sides - their past two fixtures being a 1-0 win over Spartak Moscow and a 3-0 defeat by CSKA Moscow.
What could happen to Russia in the future?
It has been reported Russia could withdraw from Uefa in favour of joining the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
In 2023, Russian Football Union (RFU) president Alexander Dyukov attended the AFC congress in Bahrain, in order to discuss the possibility of Russia switching from European to Asian football.
But later that year the RFU voted not to make the change, instead opting to set up a working group to devise a plan to return to European competition.
Asia's competitions, like the international Asian Cup and AFC Champions League, are nowhere near as financially lucrative or prestigious as their European counterparts.
If the war in Ukraine were to end, though, Russia could be brought back into the mainstream international football fold immediately.
"When the war stops, they will be readmitted," Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said earlier this year. "The first decision was done together with Fifa. I think we will [overturn] it together when we do it."
Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship medal by president Vladimir Putin after Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup, has expressed a desire to see the team back on the global stage.
"As talks are going on for peace in Ukraine, I hope that we can soon move to the next page, bring back, as well, Russia in the football landscape because this would mean that everything is solved," Infantino said.
"That's what we have to cheer for, that's what we have to pray for - because that is what football is about. It's not about dividing, it's about uniting girls, uniting boys, uniting people from wherever they are."
A return to Fifa and Uefa competition would also mean Russian domestic clubs being allowed back into future editions of the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, and potentially the revamped Club World Cup.
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