Alexei Sorokin, general director of the 2018 FIFA World Cup organizing committee, spoke about the negotiations between the Russian Football Union (RFU) and UEFA regarding the lifting of the global "ban" on Russian football.
"You and I do not see any change. This is a fact of life, despite the great work being done from the Russian side. It is indeed a great work to convince colleagues. Here the immutable fact is that football still exists in the form of competitions. There is no other way. We have to play football.
But it is difficult to say how much we can expect UEFA to "warm up". Work is being done in this direction. We will expect the results of this work and some changes in their fairly intransigent position.
For my part, I can only confirm that we are working on a detailed discussion with UEFA - participation in which competitions we will be allowed. We hope for a more constructive and dynamic position of our European colleagues. The story is not moving very fast on their part, let us say. We understand that this is a complicated issue for them, but we would like more.
And I personally believe that the question of the transition to Asia has not yet fallen away. It is quite possible to return to its discussion if it is clear that the current state of affairs will persist for a long time, and that UEFA's position does not change, or changes extremely slowly. So much so that these positive changes can be neglected," Sorokin said.
