Alive and kicking for now, but isolated Russian football risks going backwards

MOSCOW : Isolated from European and international competitions, Russian football risks going backwards, one of the country's leading sports broadcasters told Reuters, but must keep knocking on doors to try and find a way back.

Both European soccer body UEFA and global football's governing body FIFA decided that all Russian teams - national or club sides - would be suspended from participation in their competitions following Moscow's decision to despatch troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

Zenit St Petersburg's extravagant celebrations as they clenched their fifth successive league title last month with a squad boasting several Brazilians and a couple of Colombians shows that there is still life in domestic football for now.

But sports presenter Dmitry Guberniev said Russia's international exile would degrade the domestic game.

"Of course, athletes, football players suffer, without a doubt," he said. "We won't pretend it's not happening... it's going backwards because we don't play in European cups and our national team unfortunately plays only friendlies."

The Russian Football Union (RFU) has touted switching from UEFA to the 47-nation Asian confederation (AFC), an idea Guberniev dismissed.

"It's easy to quit (UEFA) but difficult to return. Besides, it's not that the Asian federation will welcome us with open arms," he said, pointing to likely opposition from Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Even facing difficulties, maintaining contacts with UEFA and FIFA is paramount, he said.

"We need to try to knock even on those closed doors, to explain, relate, promote," he said. "Keeping the dialogue is very important. We must not close ourselves up in any way."

'HUNGRY AND ANGRY'

Aside from the clubs and players, match officials