ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /TASS/. The Russian Football Union (RFU) is in talks with the Hungarian Football Federation (HFF) on organizing a friendly football match between the men’s national squads next year, RFU President Alexander Dyukov said on Thursday.

"We are discussing holding a match directly with the [Hungarian Football] Federation’s authorities and not at the level of ministries," Dyukov said speaking on the sidelines of the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"Discussions are currently underway with the Hungarian federation about organizing a potential match between the men's national teams," he continued. "Such a match is unlikely to take place this year as there is no opportunity window, but it is possible that it will be played next year."

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is held on June 5-8. This year’s theme is "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World."

Scheduled events include meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the information partner of the event.

Russia’s football ban

The International Association Football Federation (FIFA) announced on February 28, 2022 that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from taking part in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision in regard to the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

Since sanctions were introduced, the Russian national football squad has played a host of friendlies against other countries, namely against Kyrgyzstan (2-1), Tajikistan (0-0), Uzbekistan (0-0), Iran (1-1), Iraq (2-0), Cameroon (1-0), Kenya (2-2), Cuba (8-0) and Serbia (4-0).