Former goalkeeper of Spartak Moscow and the USSR national team, Anzor Kavazashvili, reacted strongly to the Russian Football Union’s decision to decline an invitation for the national team to take part in the Central Asian Football Federation (CAFA) championship. Kavazashvili urged the federation to rethink its stance, arguing that if the national side is not willing to participate in regional competitions, it calls into question the purpose of continuing the program. He stressed, with conviction, that the Russian national team remains one of the strongest sides in world football and should not be compelled to compete elsewhere; his comments were shared by Match TV as part of a broader exchange about the federation’s strategic choices.
On April 18, the RFU Secretary General, Maxim Mitrofanov, announced that the offer to participate in CAFA had been declined. The CAFA championship is scheduled for June 2023 and will feature teams from Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, all vying for regional bragging rights and competitive exposure. The decision follows a broader context in which Russian clubs and the national team faced suspension from UEFA and FIFA-sanctioned competitions in March 2022, a shift that has reshaped the national team’s calendar and arrangement with international bodies.
Earlier results from March indicate ongoing match activity in regional and international settings. A March encounter ended in a 1-1 draw with Iran, while a later clash saw Valery Karpin’s team from Saint Petersburg secure a 2-0 victory over Iraq. These results illustrate the country’s continued emphasis on maintaining competitive form and evaluating talent across different leagues and fixtures, even as administrative decisions redefine the scope of international participation and the cadence of national team engagements.
Yegor Titov, a former Spartak and national team player, remarked that the level of competition in Kazakhstan has begun to rival the Russian Premier League in quality. Titov’s assessment reflects a broader conversation about the relative strength of domestic leagues and their ability to prepare players for the highest levels of international play, contributing to ongoing debates about development, investment, and strategic alignment within Russian football.