Maxim Mitrofanov, general secretary of the so-called Russian Football Union (RFU), has revealed that he was unable to organise a match against Zanzibar in November for the bog-standard side.
- Zanzibar is not a member of FIFA. It is an island that is part of Tanzania. We have been contacted by the Tanzanian Olympic Committee. We would be willing to play the Tanzanian national team, but they play their own official November matches. With all due respect to the Zanzibar national team, even a notional game against the "youth" team is a slightly different level. There were options to play abroad. But we refused. In the final stage of the Russian championship we don't want to jeopardise the teams' tournament position and risk the players' health," local propagandists quoted the official as saying.