Russian Football Union
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The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, including the men's, women's, youth,
beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...
,
futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...
and Paralympic national teams. The RFS sanctions referees and football tournaments for the Russian Premier League and other football leagues in Russia. RFS is headed by Aleksandr Dyukov, the CEO of Gazprom Neft.


Structure

The RFS is governed by a board of directors led by a chairman, Nikita Simonyan, and a director general, Aleksandr Alayev. The RFU is a member of international football bodies
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
and
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, and also has a relationship with the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
(IOC).


History


Russian Empire

The All-Russian Football Union (VFS) was created on 19 January 1912 and in the same year was admitted to FIFA. The Unions initially consisted of 52 organizations across the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. All-Russian Football Union was the organizer of Russian Empire national football team.


Soviet Union

In 1934, the ''Football Federation of USSR'' was formed initially under the name the Football Section of
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Its organization was in accordance with the Declaration of the All-Union Council of Fitness Culture of USSR on 27 December 1934. The Section was admitted to FIFA as the Soviet organization in 1946, and admitted to UEFA in 1954. Later the Section was reorganized as the
Football Federation of USSR The Football Federation of the USSR () was a governing body of association football, football in the Soviet Union and since 1972 the main governing body of football in the country. The Federation was created in late 1934 by the decision of the ' ...
. Concurrently with the Section and later Federation until 1972 there operated the ''Football Directorate of the Soviet Sport Committee'' which was subordinated directly to the Soviet Ministry of Sport. The Directorate was never recognized on the international level.


Russian Federation

After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
, on 9 January 1992 there was formed the All-Russian Association of Football (VAF) based on the RSFSR Federation of Football and headed by Anzor Kavazashvili.Союз против Ассоциации. Как создавался чемпионат России по футболу после распада СССР
tass.ru. 14 December 2021
The VAF conference consisted of 173 delegates from the whole Russian Federation, out of which 172 voted for Kavazashvili, while Kavazashvili abstained from voting himself. The president of the former Soviet federation Koloskov decided to create a parallel organization the Russian Football Union, even though the All-Russian Association of Football (VAF) was acknowledged by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation as the only governing body of
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
in the country. At the same time Vyacheslav Koloskov who was appointed a president of the Commonwealth of Independent States associations of football federations (descendant of the Soviet Union Football Federation) tried to resolve an issue of conducting the 1992 football championship by negotiating with the Muscovite clubs. On 31 January 1992 the president of the "supposedly still existing" RSFSR Football Federation Yuri Nyrkov announced about scheduling a conference on 8 February 1992. On 8 February 1992 at the RSFSR Football Federation conference was created the modern Russian Football Union and Vyacheslav Koloskov was elected the president. At the conference, the Russian Football Union was declared a descendant of both the RSFSR Football Federation as well as the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. Using political connections, Koloskov managed to influence governing bodies of the Russian Federation and the UEFA to reconsider recognition of the All-Russian Association of Football and instead recognize his organization. The newly formed Russian Football Union eventually inherited everything from the previous associations such as the VFS and Football Federation of USSR and reinstated in FIFA on 3 July 1992. In July 1992, the Russian national football team was formed.


Russian invasion of Ukraine

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
and
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
suspended all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or clubs, until further notice. After the invasion of Ukraine, Adidas suspended its long-term kit partnership with the Russian Football Union, which first began in 2008. Adidas had provided all Russian teams with kits and had expanded the federation's replica kit sales in the retail market. During the ban, talk circulated that the RFU were considering seeking to change confederations to the
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
, according to Match-TV broadcaster Dmitry Pirog, stating, "I think the time has come to think seriously about a switch to the Asian football confederation." However, Vyacheslav Koloskov opposed the idea, noting that it would "bring the death of Russian football and also we would never return to the European family." In any event, the switch would have to be ratified by other Asian federations. RFU president Alexander Dyukov ruled out the idea of switching to Asian football and stated that the RFU is part of UEFA and will always be so. In late November 2022, Dyukov said, at an executive board meeting on behalf of TASS, that the possibility of a switch of the association to the AFC might be considered. On 29 December 2022, it was reported that the RFU would hold a meeting the next day to discuss resigning from UEFA, so as to join the AFC. On 30 December, following the meeting, Dyukov stated: "We are indeed considering the option of returning to UEFA competitions as soon as possible", "It is important for us to take part in the World Cup qualifiers". On 20 December 2023, Russian Football Union executive committee voted against the move to
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
. In October 2023, FIFA and UEFA lifted the ban on both U-17 teams, allowing them to return to competitions. This was met with opposition from Ukraine and some other UEFA members. England, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Romania announced that they would not play any Russian U-17 team. UEFA later axed the plan.


Presidents


Chairmen of the Football Directorate of the RSFSR Sports Committee (1934 – 1972)

* Alexander Starostin (1956–1958)


Chairmen of RSFSR Football Federation (1959-1991)

* Alexander Starostin (1959–1967) * Yuri Nyrkov (1990–1992)


All-Russian Association of Football

* Anzor Kavazashvili (9 January 1992 – 1992)


Russian Football Union (1992-)

* Vyacheslav Koloskov (8 February 1992 – 2 April 2005) * Vitaly Mutko (2 April 2005 – 24 November 2009) ** acting: Nikita Simonyan (24 November 2009 – 3 February 2010) * Sergei Fursenko (3 February 2010 – 25 June 2012) ** acting: Nikita Simonyan (25 June 2012 – 3 September 2012) * Nikolai Tolstykh (3 September 2012 – 31 May 2015) ** acting: Nikita Simonyan (31 May 2015 – 2 September 2015) * Vitaly Mutko (2 September 2015 – 25 December 2017) ** acting: Aleksandr Alayev (25 December 2017 – 19 December 2018) ** acting: Sergey Pryadkin (19 December 2018 – 21 February 2019) * Alexander Dyukov (22 February 2019 – present)


References


External links

*
Russia
at FIFA.com (archived 3 June 2007)

at UEFA.com {{Authority control
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
Football in Russia Football Articles containing video clips Sports organizations established in 1912 Sports organizations established in 1992 1912 establishments in the Russian Empire 1992 establishments in Russia Association football governing bodies in Europe Association football governing bodies in Asia