Football expert Vladimir Ponomaryov, in an interview with «Euro-Football.Ru», commented on RFU president Aleksandr Duykov’s remarks about Russian teams returning to international competitions. This was reported by euro-football.rureports.
Ponomaryov stressed that Duykov is not talking about “positive trends” for no reason: in his view, such statements do not come without grounds from a responsible official. The expert said that progress in the situation may be possible next year.
As an example, he recalled that in some sports Russian athletes have already been allowed to compete internationally without a flag, which was a step forward. According to Ponomaryov, the process has started moving, even if slowly.
The specialist also did not hide that the issue of returning is directly linked to the political backdrop. He added that even opinions voiced in some areas that “it’s not interesting to watch without Russians” may indicate a more positive year ahead.
Ponomaryov expressed confidence in Duykov’s mention of the likelihood of seeing Russians again in the draws for upcoming major tournaments. He said Duykov may not be disclosing all information yet, but he definitely has optimistic news.
The expert also addressed Duykov’s idea that it may be possible to bid to host Euro 2032. Ponomaryov noted that there is a practice of staging a tournament in two countries—for example, holding the group stage in one country and the finals in another.
He also noted there is no doubt about Russia’s capacity to host a major competition: the stadiums, pitches and organizational experience built up for the 2018 World Cup confirm this. In Ponomaryov’s view, it would be difficult to raise serious objections to Russia hosting a tournament.
On the year’s results, Ponomaryov recalled that the national team is 33rd in the FIFA rankings and said it is hard to draw firm conclusions because the opponents’ level was not high. In his view, the team lacks strong sparring matches, especially games against European giants such as Italy, Germany and France.
At the same time, the expert said that, based on his feelings, he cannot claim that the overall level of Russian football is declining.
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