Russia's plan to leave UEFA and join the Asian Confederation

Reports have emerged that claim the Russian football federation could part ways with UEFA and join the Asian Confederation, with this coming just a few weeks after sanctions were imposed on Russian clubs and the national team.

All sides were banned from participating in UEFA competitions after Vladimir Putin ordered back in February the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"Following the initial decisions adopted by the FIFA Council and the UEFA Executive Committee, which envisaged the adoption of additional measures, FIFA and UEFA have today decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice," read UEFA's joint statement with FIFA back in February.

Spartak Moscow were kicked out of the Europa League after reaching the round of 16, while the national team were eliminated from the 2022 World Cup playoffs, where they were supposed to face Poland during the ongoing international break.

Russia's UEFA exit plan

Now, Russian website Championat asked the opinion of high-profile personalities on whether Russia should just leave UEFA and join the AFC.

"The Asian Football Confederation? I don't even know if this can happen," former Manchester United winger Andrei Kanchelskis told Championat.

"While this is all at the level of conversations, I don't think UEFA will hand [Russia] such a serious suspension. Although we all think, [or] hope, that everything turns out differently.

"Both the Russian national team and our clubs need to move on, and play, no matter how the situation develops.

"If the Asian football confederation is a real option for Russia, then why not?

"I worked in Asia [and] played in Saudi Arabia. It would be interesting for me to watch such matches."

Should this move comes to fruition, Russian clubs will switch from the UEFA Champions League to the Asian Champions League, while others will compete in the AFC Cup after leaving the Europa League.

Meanwhile, the national team would compete in the Asian Cup instead of the European Championship in the event the Asian federations agree for Russia to be part of the AFC.