Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal said on Wednesday that he had no “problem» with the proposed membership of Russia in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Moscow being cold with the Europeans since the invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Football Federation has recently multiplied the signals about a possible departure from UEFA to join the AFC, after considering leaving the European body without carrying out its threats.
«If Fifa and AFC allow it and it’s beneficial for Asia, I don’t think there’s a problem with it“, declared to AFP Prince Abdelaziz, on the sidelines of a congress of the regional authority, organized in Bahrain. The decision formally rests with the confederation and not with the ministers, however, insisted the Saudi official.
“You need a decision from Fifa to participate in the 2026 World Cup”
At the end of December the Russian federation (RFS) had called for the formation of a working group with UEFA “to settle as soon as possible the question of a return of Russian clubs and national teams to official international tournaments“. And Russian football boss Alexander Dioukov has not ruled out the possibility of joining the AFC, should negotiations with UEFA fail. “We can redirect to Asia, but we need a decision from Fifa to participate in the 2026 World Cup, we will find an agreement faster via this working group“, he had explained.
In January, the Olympic Council of Asia offered to include Russian athletes in its regional competitions such as the Asian Games, after an International Committee decision envisaging their return to world sport despite the continuing war in Ukraine. The Saudi Minister of Sports participated in the AFC congress on Wednesday because of the designation of his country as the host country of the 2027 edition of the Asian Football Cup, a possible prelude to the organization of a World Cup.