[스포츠한국 오근호 기자] The possibility of moving the Russian Football Federation (RFU) to the Asian Football Federation (AFC) has been raised.
The European Football Federation (UEFA) banned the Russian national football team and club teams from participating in tournaments on the 1st (Korean time). punishment for the war in Ukraine. Russia’s national team was eliminated by default in the play-off Pass A of the 2022 Qatar World Cup European qualifiers. Russian Premier League club Spartak Moscow were automatically eliminated from the UEFA Europa League.
The RFU appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on the 9th, but the CAS dismissed it on the 19th. RFU began looking for another solution as relations with UEFA deteriorated. That is Russia’s attempt to join the AFC. British media mail reported on the 30th that “RFU is considering leaving UEFA to join AFC”.
If Russia joins the AFC, the Russian national team will participate in the AFC Asian Cup as an Asian member of the World Cup regional qualifier. Russian league clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League.
Is Russia’s entry into the AFC realistic? Continental change has been experienced by Kazakhstan and Australia, Taiwan and Israel in the past.
▶ ‘Arbitrary choice’ Kazakhstan and Australia
Kazakhstan moved from AFC to UEFA in 2002. Controversy arose in his country, but in the end he chose to go to UEFA for the development of Kazakhstan’s football. The Kazakhstan national team did not pass the World Cup and Euro qualifiers after the change of affiliation, but the club team was different. FC Astana, a member of the Kazakhstan Premier League, became the first Kazakhstan club to advance to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in the 2015-2016 season, and in November 2019, defeated Manchester United in the Europa League.
Australia is a case in which the team moved to qualify for the World Cup. Australia, which was a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), monopolized the 0.5 World Cup tickets allocated to the OFC, but was often stuck in the intercontinental playoffs. After losing to Canada, Iran, Argentina, and Uruguay, Australia moved to AFC in January 2006 and succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup four times in a row.
▶’Involuntary choice’ Taiwan and Israel
Taiwan is currently a member of the AFC, but it is a case of re-joining the AFC. He had no choice but to leave the AFC under pressure from China, which advocated ‘one China’. Although Taiwan joined OFC in 1975, Taiwan’s football was regressed as it was a continent with a very low level of national teams compared to AFC. Taiwan then returned to the AFC in 1989.
Israel also left the AFC due to friction with other countries. Israel, which hosted the AFC Asian Cup in 1964 and won the championship, reigned alongside Korea as a powerhouse in Asian football. However, he was expelled from the AFC in 1976 due to problems outside of football, such as war and religious conflict. After joining the OFC on a temporary basis, Israel joined UEFA in 1992 and was only able to operate stably.
Russia’s attempt to enter the AFC this time is close to an arbitrary choice. However, the result is different from Australia and Kazakhstan, which had specific goals such as qualifying for the World Cup and developing soccer in their country.
The punishment that Russia received is the price for destroying the peace of other countries. If the club moves to AFC without any reflection on this, Russia will be condemned even more. The conclusion is paying attention to whether Russia, which has achieved great results with UEFA, such as the Euro 2008 semi-finals and the 2018 World Cup quarter-finals, will really move to the AFC or end with a happening.
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