Despite international spell: Russia wants football

Despite the International Banns for Russian Sport as a result of Ukraine war, the Russian Football Association actually applied for the orientation of the EM end laps 2028 or 2032.

"The Executive Committee has decided that we apply for the orientation of the European Championship 2028 and the EURO 2032", Sergey Anok is quoted from the RFU Executive Committee from the Russian daily Sport Express.

The application deadline for the two tournaments ended on Wednesday. Among other things, the associations of Ireland and Great Britain have applied for the EM 2028. The UEFA would like to inform about possible other candidates in early April.

The next finals takes place 2024 in Germany with 24 participants. An extension of the starting field to 32 teams is already speculated. That would be well over half of the 55 UEFA member associations.

Russian teams excluded from FIFA and UEFA competitions

Already last summer, Russia's former World Cup organizational leader Alexey Sorokin had placed an application in the room. "It's hard for me to speak for the colleagues of the Russian Football Association. But I think that would be very logical. An independent application would be appropriate in the face of our infrastructure readiness and experience," said the 49-year-old in June of the daily Sport Express.

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The intention to align an EM tournament 2028 or 2032 is still surprising in the current context. According to Russia's invasion in Ukraine, Russian teams were excluded from UEFA and FIFA from all competitions at the end of the past month. The barrier also concerns the World Cup next November in Qatar.