According to Tasnim news agency, the media service of the Russian Football Federation confirmed a day late after the news of the presence of the three senior managers of the federation at the AFC annual congress, that the trip was made at the direct invitation of Sheikh Salman, the president of the Asian Football Confederation.
Previously, many leading experts and famous veterans of Russian football, including Andrey Arshavin, expressed their opposition to participating in the Asian continent following the European and global sanctions caused by the war in Ukraine.
The Asian Football Confederation Congress was held in Manama (Bahrain) yesterday. At the end of February 2022, FIFA and UEFA banned Russian national teams and clubs from participating in international competitions. The Russian Football Federation then considered the possibility of moving from UEFA to the AFC, but at the end of December it was revealed that in 2023 a working group with UEFA and FIFA will be created, which will discuss the future of Russian football in more detail.
In the first month of the new year, a meeting between UEFA and the Russian Football Federation was held in Switzerland. Dyukov (President of the Russian Football Federation) also visited the UEFA Executive Committee.
According to the report of Russian MATCH TV channel; Dyukov, Mitrofanov and Alexey Sorokhin (head of the organizing committees of the 2018 World Cup and 2020 European Championship in St. Petersburg) entered the congress at the personal invitation of the AFC president. The head of the Russian Football Federation was sitting in the front row next to FIFA President Johnny Infantino, with Mitrofanov and Sorokhin a short distance away. The Russian delegation discussed with the heads of the Asian Football Confederation the issue of a possible transfer to this continent.