Russia captain Artem Dzyuba is not summoned by “the situation in Ukraine”, says Karpin

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The captain of the Russian football team Artem Dzyuba was not called up this Tuesday for the next matches of the 'Sbornaïa' at the end of March because of the “difficult situation in Ukraine”, where family and friends of the player live, explained the Russian coach.

“Given the difficult situation in Ukraine, where many members of his family live, Artem apologized and asked, for family reasons, not to be called” for the next matches of the Russian national team, explained Valeri Karpin in an interview published on the Russian Federation website.

“We have agreed to stay in touch and I will be following closely his next matches with Zenit (St. Petersburg),” he added.

After the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, FIFA decided to exclude Russia from the 2022 World Cup qualifying repechage 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.

In any case, the Russian national team will meet “from 21 to 27 March”, according to Karpin. “The concrete program of the rally and friendly matches is being drawn up and will be published in the future,” he said.

“For logistical reasons, I decided not to call players who play in European clubs for the rally,” added Karpin.