Dyukov predicts a change in the situation with the admission of Russians to tournaments in 2025

Russian soccer clubs and national teams will be allowed to participate in international tournaments in 2025. This statement was made on December 2 by the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Alexander Dyukov.

"If we talk about the attitude to us, to Russian soccer, on the part of our colleagues, we see that it is changing for the better. <...> I think there will be changes next year," he shared in a conversation with TASS.

The RFU president also noted that the change in the attitude towards Russian clubs can be seen, among other things, by the number of national teams that are ready to come to Russia in 2025 to play matches.

At the same time, he noted that at the moment there are no specific agreements on lifting the ban on the participation of Russian athletes in international tournaments.

Earlier, on November 28, it became known that the Russian national soccer team was not among the participants of the five baskets for the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament in the zone of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

In June this year, Dmitry Svishchev, chairman of the State Duma committee on physical culture and sports, said that the Russian national team will still have a chance to return to international soccer tournaments. He pointed out that Russian players continue to play in European clubs.

On February 28, 2022, the International Football Federation (FIFA) and UEFA suspended national teams and clubs from the Russian Federation from participating in all competitions under the auspices of the organizations. As assured in the organizations, soccer will become "a vector of unity and peace between nations" in case the situation around Ukraine improves.