On February 1, the 33rd Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) concluded its work in the capital of Bahrain, Manama. AFC member associations elected a new composition of the AFC Executive Committee for a period from 2023 to 2027. Bahrain’s representative, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, was elected AFC President for the third four-year term, who was the only candidate for this position.
At the invitation of the organization’s management, the AFC congress received a visit from the President of the Russian Football Union, Alexander Dyukov. According to Match TV, together with the President of the RFU in Bahrain were the General Secretary of the RFU Maxim Mitrofanov and the General Director of the Organizing Committees of the 2018 World Cup and the 2020 European Championship in Saint Petersburg Alexei Sorokin . The RFU chief sat in the front row next to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Mitrofanov and Sorokin were not far from them. During the work of the congress, Dyukov discussed with representatives of Asian football associations the issue of transferring the RFU to the AFC.
Commenting on the results of preliminary consultations, Saudi Arabia’s head of football department Yasser Almishal said the possibility of Russia’s transition to the AFC will only appear after a thorough study of the consequences of the move. such a decision.
“It really needs to be looked at carefully: what will it add to the continent? How will Asian football benefit from this decision?
In recent years, we have not seen examples of such transitions from one confederation to another. Therefore, a sufficiently in-depth study of this issue will be necessary to assess whether it makes sense to do so if the RFU submits a real request,” Almishal told Reuters.
Alexei Sorokin, who attended the AFC congress, added for his part, according to Reuters, that there is speculation that there will be talks between Russian and Asian officials.
At the end of 2022, the RFU Executive Committee discussed the issue of switching to the AFC, which comprises 47 national football associations in Asia, as a possible option, allowing the Russian team and clubs to continue to participate in international competitions.
According to Almishal, so far these are only assumptions.
“Four other members of the FIFA Council visited us at the congress. I haven’t heard anything about the Russians’ intentions to take such a step, but if it becomes official, it will be dealt with by the relevant authorities, be it the AFC, FIFA or UEFA. So far it’s just speculation in the media,” Almishal told Reuters.
“I always thought that you shouldn’t mix politics with sport, even if we were playing a friendly match with Russia. It’s football. We are sportsmen, it’s not politics. If the AFC executive committee decides that Russia can join, then why not?” also said Ravshan Irmatov, vice-president of the Football Association of Uzbekistan, who joined the AFC in 1994 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which was present at the AFC congress.
