"We are still Europe..." Russian football complains of 'bad attitude' from UEFA

The former chairman of the 2018 World Cup organising committee, Alexei Sorokin, was outraged by the suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions. The football official complained about the "bad attitude" towards the aggressor country on the part of sports federations.

He said this in an interview with the RB Sport portal. According to Sorokin, the Russian Football Union (RFU) is actively considering the option of moving from Europe to Asia, as it is not known how long the suspension of Russian teams from UEFA tournaments will last.

"It's bad for us not to play - it's obvious. What is happening now is not good in terms of the attitude towards us in world sport. We hope for some changes. Perhaps something will become clear after the UEFA Executive Committee at the end of June. If the decision to move to Asia is made, we will not face any opposition there. It is quite feasible, but also very responsible. We need to correctly assess the consequences, because they will be tectonic. We are still Europe in many ways - cultural and social. And Russian football is closer to European football. But you can't not play all the time. Football is built on the principle of competition, not round tables and conferences," Sorokin said.

Last summer, UEFA suspended Russian clubs from the new season of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, and the national team from the Euro 2024 qualifying tournament. It is expected that the sanctions will be extended for the new season of European competitions.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Russian national team head coach Valeriy Karpin was ridiculed online after saying that football in Russia had "even grown somewhere" under sanctions.

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