The Russian football team may move to play in Asia. Giner suggests being patient.
Modern sport has become subject to the influence of politicians, which was simply unthinkable in earlier times.
This was stated by the president of the Moscow football club CSKA, Evgeny Giner, as reported by the PolitNavigator correspondent.
He was asked about the possible transfer of the Russian Football Union, which was banned from competing in the European arena, from UEFA to the Asian Confederation.
"That's a very difficult question. On the one hand, we, of course, need to play on the international stage - both as clubs and as a national team. On the other hand, you need to take into account the huge difference in the financial component, if we talk about club football, a completely different limit on foreign players, and the status of possible international matches.
After all, initially our rating [in the AFC], presumably, will be zero, and our opponents are not the most famous - we will have to start literally from scratch. Therefore, maybe we should wait for a return to big European football. But there is no clear answer here. The question is the duration of this wait,” Giner told Izvestia.
He believes that he will have to wait no more than a year or two.
“I look at UEFA's internal position. It seems to me that they themselves are unhappy with what is happening. Therefore, this should not last long,” hopes the club president.
According to him, today politicians dictate to the International Olympic Committee, FIFA or UEFA what they should do.
“I don't pay attention to it. I simply think that if Samaranch were in the place of the current leaders of international sports organizations, no matter what politician said to him, he would simply send it. If Johansson [UEFA President] were there, he would say: “Go and engage in politics, impose sanctions on each other. Leave sports, don’t touch them at all,” the publication’s interlocutor emphasized.
He noticed that the Polish national football team refused to play against the Russian team in the match for qualifying for the World Cup, but in the end the Poles advanced.
“On what basis do the Poles qualify for the World Cup? Where is the sports principle? Based on policy. Look, I don't understand. If we had said that we didn’t want to play with Poland, they would have answered us: “No questions, shoot, get 0:3 and don’t go anywhere.”
The great country of Poland said it would not, and refuses. And it moves on. I am sure that if our national team and clubs continued to play in Europe now, the stadiums would be full as well. And no one would care. After all, people come to watch football. We need to be patient. Everything will be fine,” concluded Giner.
The Russian national football team may move to Asia. Giner suggests patience.