Sports News | Russia to Host Serbia for First Men''s Soccer Friendly Against European Team Since Ukraine Invasion
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Russia is set to host Serbia for a friendly in Moscow in March for its first men's national team soccer game against a European opponent since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Nyon (Switzerland), Jan 31 (AP) Russia is set to host Serbia for a friendly in Moscow in March for its first men's national team soccer game against a European opponent since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Russian Football Union said in a social media post on Wednesday that the game will be played on March 21 at Dynamo Moscow's stadium.
UEFA confirmed it had permitted for the game. Russian national teams and clubs are banned from UEFA competitions, but that suspension does not apply to friendlies.
Since the invasion of Ukraine saw Russia removed from international soccer competitions, the Russian national team has mostly organized friendlies against teams from Asia and Africa, as well as one game against Cuba in November.
A game against Bosnia-Herzegovina was planned in late 2022 but never took place following objections from some Bosnian players. The Russian women's national team played friendlies against Belarus, China, Iran and Paraguay last year.
Serbian soccer has close ties to Russia, whose state energy firm Gazprom still sponsors storied club Red Star Belgrade after being dropped by UEFA as its longstanding commercial partner within days of the war starting in Ukraine. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)