The captain of the Russian football team asked the DT not to be summoned because he has Ukrainian relatives

While Russian President Vladimir Putin intensifies his bombardments, his government's ongoing conflict against Ukraine has also hit Russia's national football team: the team's captain, Artem Dzyuba, asked not to be called up for the next matches at the end of March because he had family and friends Ukrainians, as explained on Tuesday coach Valeri Karpin.

“On Sunday we spoke to Artem (Dzyuba) on the phone and he said he really wants to play in the national team. But now, due to the difficult political situation in Ukraine, where he has many relatives, he apologized and asked not to be part of this call,” said Karpin in an interview published on the official website of the Russian Federation.

The 53-year-old coach, who played for Celta Vigo, Valencia and Real Sociedad, took command of his country's national team in July last year. According to him, he regrets the absence of Dzyuba but will not leave his radar: “We have agreed to remain in touch and I will follow closely his next matches with Zenit (St. Petersburg).”

Much of the Russian media echoed the news that the captain of the Sbornaya asked not to be on the summons for political reasons and the player himself had to go out and put cold cloths.

“I didn't go to the Russian national team not for political reasons. It's a matter of family circumstances, but I wouldn't like to go into detail. During this period of time, I would like to spend time with my family. It seems to me that there was a misunderstanding, Karpin misunderstood me, or his words were misinterpreted,” said Artem Dzyuba in his disclaimer.

After the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, FIFA decided to exclude Russia from the qualifying repechage for the Qatar 2022 World Cup that was due to compete against Poland scheduled at the end of the month. The Russian Football Federation appealed that decision to the Arbitral Tribunal for Sport (TAS) and called for the lifting of the sanction on a provisional basis, something that TAS will rule on in the coming dates.

Regardless of this, the cast directed by Valeri Karpin will meet from March 21 to 27. The DT will bring together 27 players from the local league. “The concrete program of the rally and friendly matches is being drawn up and will be published later. For logistical reasons, I decided not to call players who play in foreign clubs for the rally,” Karpin explained.

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