Today, March 25, a friendly match would be held between the teams of Russia and Paraguay. But it was canceled due to the terrible events that occurred on March 22 in Moscow. The Crocus Town Hall tragedy shocked the entire country. In those moments, football takes a backseat.
“The Russian Football Union, together with the entire country, mourns the death of those killed in the terrible terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall. Once again I would like to express my deepest condolences to all the family and friends of the victims of this tragedy. In the current situation, together with our colleagues from Paraguay, we have decided not to hold any matches between our teams and we will organize them at a later date.
The match cannot be played in March as the FIFA window ends on Tuesday and national team players must return to their clubs. We discussed that we will definitely celebrate this match in the future. As for the tickets already purchased by fans for the match, the money will be returned in full,” said RFU president Alexandr Dyukov.
In what cases have Russian national team matches been canceled before?
Russia – Yugoslavia, 2000
The teams of Russia and Yugoslavia were in the same qualifying group for the 2002 World Cup. This qualification was the last in history for the Yugoslavs. The country collapsed and became engulfed in war, and in 2003 it ceased to exist in its previous form. In October 2000, Yugoslavia was due to host Russia in Belgrade. However, FIFA decided to postpone the match until November. The reason is the insufficient security conditions for holding the meeting.
The International Federation has determined the reserve dates for the matches of the national teams: November 15, 2000, mid-February and April 25, 2001. The meeting between Yugoslavia and Russia took place in the spring of 2001 in Belgrade. The Russians won a minimal victory: the only goal was scored by Vladimir Beschastnykh in the 72nd minute. Russia eventually qualified for the 2002 World Cup and Yugoslavia missed the tournament, finishing in third place.
Let’s understand the origins of the friendship between Russians and Serbs:
Many are sure: Russians and Serbs are brothers. But why?
Russia – Georgia, 2002
Russia and Georgia finished in the same qualifying group for Euro 2004. The Russian team was disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to play in the 2000 European Championship, so they set their sights on a trip to Portugal. And Georgia has assembled a good team led by Milan star Kakha Kaladze. The first head-to-head match the team was supposed to play on October 12, 2002 in Tbilisi. However, towards the end of the first half, problems arose with the lighting in the Lokomotiv stadium: the light appeared and disappeared. Fans even lit homemade torches. The teams played until halftime, but then the situation did not change. It was decided to cancel the match (with the score 0:0) and reschedule it for April 2003.
Russia – Georgia match, fans in the stands
Photo: RIA Novosti
The investigation team of the Georgian Ministry of State Security later discovered that the electricians at the Lokomotiv stadium made a mistake when installing the equipment. The transformer and stabilizer were installed incorrectly in the sand. The intelligence services indicated that what happened was not a deliberate act of sabotage. In April 2003, Georgia and Russia met again in Tbilisi. Malkhaz Asatiani’s goal allowed the hosts to achieve an unexpected victory. True, this did not help: the team took the last and fifth place in the group. And Russia finished second, won the play-offs against Wales and then went on to Euro 2004.
And now Georgia is close to its first Euro Cup:
Georgia has found a replacement for Kvaratskhelia. Zivzivadze brought her out: who is he?
Russia – Germany, 2003
The national teams of Russia and Germany agreed to play a friendly match in April 2003. The teams participated in the qualifying round for Euro 2004. And they were supposed to meet after the qualifying matches in March 2003. Germany drew at home with Lithuania (1-1) and Russia unexpectedly lost to Albania (1-3).
The German Football Federation asked its Russian colleagues to cancel the friendly match. RFU Director General Alexander Tukmanov said they met his colleagues halfway. Then came the information that Russia would still play another friendly match. But in the end the players went to their clubs and on April 5 and 6 the third round of the Russian Championship took place.
Russia – Poland, 2022
The Russian national team took second place in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. The offensive defeat in the last round against Croatia (0:1) put Valery Karpin’s team in a situation where they need to beat two rivals to reach the Qatar tournament. The draw pitted Russia against Poland in the first match of the mini-play-offs. The game was supposed to take place on March 24, 2022. However, due to hostilities that began in Ukraine in February of that year, the Polish team refused to play Russia. Poland noted that it even accepted a technical defeat. And the RFU stated that it “sees no legal reason to cancel the play-off match.”
Robert Lewandowski
Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images
However, on February 28, 2022, FIFA and UEFA announced the suspension of the Russian national team from international competitions. And on March 8, the International Football Federation issued a statement announcing that Poland automatically qualified for the final of the 2022 World Cup qualifying play-offs. “We would prefer to beat your team on the field. But in these circumstances, this was the only possible decision that FIFA could make,” he noted after the decision in the press service of the Polish Football Union. Poland finally beat Sweden and qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
Nations League, 2022-2024
In the 2022/2024 Nations League, the Russian national team was placed in the same group with Israel, Iceland and Albania on Route B. The first match of Valery Karpin’s team was scheduled for June 2, 2022, away from home against the Albanians. However, due to Russia’s suspension from international matches, the team did not participate in the Nations League, automatically occupying the last place in the group.
In February, the groups for the new season of the Nations League were announced:
Nations League draw results. There is a “group of death”, and Armenia is luckier than Kazakhstan
Russia – Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2022
Despite the suspension of official matches, the Russian team can play friendly matches. In September 2022, unexpected news appeared: the Russian team would play against Bosnia and Herzegovina. At that time Russia had scheduled matches with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. But meeting Europeans is a surprising event. UEFA indicated that “they are not opposed.” However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina itself they reacted harshly. Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic called for the match to be cancelled, and a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Union’s executive committee, Azmir Husic, said he would “do everything to ensure that the match does not take place”.
Edin Dzeko
Photo: Harry Langer/Getty Images
Who made the decision for the Bosnians to celebrate the match? Five of the six members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Union’s emergency committee (the head of the union, Viko Zelkovich, as well as Ivan Beus, Milos Brkic, Dragan Soldo and Fuad Cholpa) voted in favor. Only the union’s vice president, Irfan Duric, spoke out against it. However, after public pressure, officials changed their minds about the game’s viability. As a result, Bosnians voted “against” the party for the second time. And on October 31, 2022, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Football Federation website reported that the match with Russia would not take place.
How the first match of the European team in Russia in more than two years went:
The match between Russia and Serbia was not broadcast on television. After this, leaving FIFA would be absurd
