Could Russia leave UEFA to join up with the AFC instead? One of its biggest stars sure hopes not.
Russia’s national teams and club teams have been suspended by UEFA and FIFA for a year now, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. With the war seemingly far from over and the suspensions still in place, Russia has reportedly begun mulling over a switch to the Asian confederation.
CSKA Moscow and Russia international Fedor Chalov would not be pleased if that were the case, as he said in an interview with Sport24.
The publication asked the striker if he was mentally prepared to face the fact that he may have played his final match in European competition more than a year ago.
He replied: “I really hope that’s not the case.”
Chalov added on the possibility of a shift to Asia: “Nobody is interested. Not a single person watches the AFC Champions League.
“There are many good players there. But I will never believe that the Asian Champions League will be more interesting than the European one.”
The 24-year-old forward would know, having scored against Real Madrid in 2018 in a famous away win for CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.
Chalov has been capped four times by the Russia national team since he earned his first call-up in 2019. Since it was suspended by FIFA and UEFA, Russia has only played three matches, all of which were friendlies against Asian countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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