Malcom commented on the receipt of a Russian passport and wrote “Thank you very much” in one of the social networks.
The club management from the banks of the Neva reacted to this news by congratulating the new Russians.
“Zenit Football Club congratulates Malcolm and Claudinho on their new status and the privilege of being citizens of our country. In the message published on the team’s Telegram channel, we wish success and new victories together with the blue-white-blue ones.
Ruslan Nigmatullin, former player of Moscow Lokomotiv, answered a question about the possible participation of Malcolm and Claudinho in the national team matches in an interview with socialbites.ca, noting that footballers born in the country should play in Moscow. National team.
“It is much more enjoyable to be happy for Russian football when you read that another Russian football player who has risen to the level of the Russian national team has grown. Such a trend when legionnaires are players of the national team. They will likely get the same message. It is clear that this was done to empty the roster of foreign players on Zenit and replace them with others. I don’t want these things to last forever. Football players born in the country must play for the national team. For the most part, this should be the case. Then it will be an honorable duty for them to defend the honor of their country. Bonuses are not particularly needed when you play for your country. And legionnaires playing for the national team can be called mercenaries, ”said Nigmatullin.
Former blue-white-blue football player Vladimir Bystrov thinks it’s perfect that the players are no longer considered legionnaires in the Russian championship.
“Great news for the St. Petersburg team – two strong players are no longer considered legionnaires. Congratulations on such a great purchase.
Who is next? proms? Bystrov wrote.
But former St. Petersburg striker Andrei Arshavin admitted that he does not understand why the players are citizens of Russia.
“I have no idea why Malcolm and Claudinho were given Russian passports. I agree with this decision. Do I believe that one day they will play for the Russian national team? Anything is possible,” the champion quotes Arshavin.
Former Russian national team player Ari said that he had a good attitude towards Brazil at the behest of Vladimir Putin.
This is good, the Russian President showed how good relations are with Brazil. I think it will be good for those who want to play for the Russian team. Of course, the citizenship of Malcolm and Claudinho will contribute to the desire of other Brazilian football players to obtain Russian citizenship. “I wish them good health, not be injured, help the Russian national team, always show good football,” he said.
Former Zenit coach Vlastimil Petrzhela claimed that the players took Russian citizenship because of money.
“Malcolm and Claudinho’s motivation for obtaining Russian citizenship was money, what else could it be? I hope they do not regret it, ”said Sport-Express, the words of Petrzhela.
It is worth noting that Malcolm and Claudinho will also have the status of legionnaires in the 2022/23 season. This is stated in the RPL regulations posted on the organization’s official website.
Even before the official announcement that the players were citizens of Russia, the RFU allowed football players to participate in matches for the Russian national team.
The RFU recorded that Malcolm played for the Brazilian national team in the 2015 World Championship among youth teams.
Now the player must pass the procedure for changing sports citizenship through the chamber according to the status of the International Football Federation (FIFA) football court, and also live in Russia for five years. He will be able to play for the national team before 2024, which counts from 2019 when Malcolm moved to Zenit.
The organization said that Claudinho’s athlete citizenship change did not require an appeal to the chamber on the status of FIFA players, as he did not take part in official matches for the national team under the auspices of the organization.
At the age of 29, he will be able to play for the Russian national team no later than 2026. The reason for this is that the player has been wearing the Blue-White-Blues jersey since 2021 and the rule of living in the country for at least five years also applies to him.
However, sports lawyer Mikhail Prokopets, in his interview with Match TV, pointed out that the athletes played for the Brazilian national team in the 2020 Olympics and that the football tournaments in the Games are a competition organized by FIFA, so this tournament is played. It is an official competition within the meaning of FIFA statutes.
“Subject to article 5, paragraph 3 of the regulation on the application of the FIFA regulations, any player participating in a match of an official competition of any level and any form of football for a federation is not entitled to play. for the national team of another federation, except for the cases specified in Article 9 of the aforementioned regulation. Prokopets said the “official competition” as defined in the FIFA statutes is “an international team competition organized by FIFA or any confederation”.
Therefore, the question of the participation of Malcolm and Claudinho in the Russian national team remains open.
RPL Malkom has made 16 appearances this season, scoring 11 goals and providing 5 assists. Claudinho has scored 2 goals and 4 assists in 11 games this season.