Waiting For Russia To Move To AFC Following Uefa And FIFA Sanctions Regarding Invasion Of Ukraine: Potentially Confronting The Indonesian National Team

Russian National Team (Twitter @TeamRussia)

JAKARTA - The Russian football federation is reportedly planning to leave European football's governing body, UEFA, and join the Asian football confederation, the AFC, in the aftermath of the barrage of sanctions it received over the invasion of Ukraine.

Quoted by Antara from Marca, in addition to UEFA, sanctions were also imposed by the world football authority, FIFA, but Russia's plan to move to the AFC also still depends on the blessing of the two organizations.

The applicable rules stipulate that Russia must first submit its resignation from UEFA, then after obtaining approval from FIFA, they can only then register themselves as new members of the AFC.

UEFA and FIFA agreed to ban Russia's national team from appearing in the Qatar 2022 World Cup finals, including the annulling of their status in the European zone qualifying playoffs, where they were supposed to meet Poland in the semifinals of Path B.

Even if UEFA and FIFA do not impose penalties, since President Vladimir Putin deployed Russian troops to invade Ukraine last month, Poland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, which are in the Path B playoffs, have immediately stated that they are not willing to compete against the Red Bear Country.

Sanctions were also felt at the club level, where Spartak Moscow, which was supposed to appear in the last 16 of the Europa League, was immediately kicked out of the European second-tier competition. UEFA has also canceled the right to host the 2021/22 Champions League final from Saint Petersburg to Paris, France.

The transfer from UEFA to the AFC could be an alternative way for Russia to face the stringent sanctions it has received, given that earlier this month they also filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the sanctions.

The move of the continental confederation is not new in the world of football, considering that Israel has also moved from the AFC to UEFA and Australia, which since 2005 left the Oceania football confederation (OFC) to the AFC for a larger quota of tickets to the World Cup finals.

This Russian discourse has the potential to bring them together with the Indonesian national team in various international events.