“The decision is not made by the players”: Bosnians Dzeko and Pjanic called for the cancellation of a friendly match with the Russian national team

The Football Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, September 9, announced that it had reached an agreement with the RFU to hold a friendly match in St. Petersburg.

At the same time, the Bosnian media reported that the meeting was approved by UEFA: if you believe this information, the organization has not yet put an end to the Russian team and there are theoretical chances to take part in the selection for Euro 2024.

However, the captain of the national team, Edin Dzeko, spoke out against the match with the team of Valery Karpin.

“I have always stood only for peace.

The Football Union knows my opinion.

Unfortunately, I do not make decisions about who the national team will play with, but I have my own clear position, which does not include participation in this meeting, ”Klix quotes the Inter striker.

Al-Sharja midfielder Miralem Pyanich was also dissatisfied with his sparring partner.

As the footballer noted, the management of the organization asked his opinion on this issue, but in the end did not listen to the position of the athlete.

“I said what I thought, and then I was surprised by another decision.

It is unsuccessful!

I have no words.

When the team starts to play well, something always goes wrong, ”Sportske.ba quotes Pjanic.

In the union itself, only Vice President Irfan Duric voted against the match with Russia.

However, he was not the only person in the organization who did not like the idea of ​​going to St. Petersburg.

So, a member of the executive committee of the FSBiH, Azmir Husich, promised to do everything possible so that the game did not take place. 

“While Russia is in isolation, we must behave as we are asked.

And it turns out that everyone is crazy, and we are the smartest.

You can not spoil relations with others because of Russia.

At least with the advanced Western world.

Our duty is to oppose this match,” Husic said.

And the Ukrainian Football Association appealed to UEFA and FIFA with a demand not to allow a friendly match. 

“We remind you that due to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, all Russian teams were suspended from participation in all international official competitions by FIFA and UEFA.

In such a situation, the decision of the Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina looks like it is aimed at supporting the actions and deeds of the Russian government in Ukraine to continue the war, ”the UAF letter says.

However, in Russia they calmly reacted to such a reaction of the West to a friendly match, which should be the first for the national team with a European country since February 24.

Valery Karpin invited journalists to contact the Bosnians for comments.

“What am I doing here?

Call them and ask, ”the head coach of RB Sport quotes.

At the same time, the former coach of the Russian national team Boris Ignatiev sees nothing wrong with what is happening.

In his opinion, instead of Dzeko and Pyanich, there will be other athletes who want to go to St. Petersburg.

“The decision is not made by the players, but by the Football Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And the leadership, for sure, previously enlisted support at the European level.

UEFA gave them the opportunity to hold such a meeting, they certainly would not have gone for it on their own.

And football players have contractual obligations only with clubs, there is no such thing in the national team.

And then a question for the players.

If someone does not want to go, they will take others.

We used to have Dziuba, now he does not play for the national team.

But this does not mean that the team will cease to exist, ”the specialist said in an interview with RT.

As Ignatiev notes, only the refusal of the entire team to meet with Russia can affect the position of the FSBiH.

“Surely, the leaders of the organization thought everything over before making a decision.

And for us, the joyful moment is that the veil is slowly opening up.

And there are a lot of players.

Each of them has their own desires and aspirations.

One wants to play, the other is not satisfied with the financial conditions, someone is afraid of getting injured, falling out of the main team.

Therefore, I would not pay attention to the words of two or three people, even if they are great by the standards of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ”added the honored coach of the RSFSR.

Ex-coach of Lokomotiv Rinat Bilyaletdinov is not as sure of the match as Ignatiev.

In his opinion, sports today are too strongly influenced by public opinion.

“Now politics is in the first place everywhere.

Surely, football officials have already expressed their wishes.

The pressure is on.

I don't see anything new in this.

For the first time, right?

When there is agreement from the union, the recommendations will, of course, not affect the situation.

Another thing is, if all the players in the chain refuse to go, then who will they play?

They will not send a youth team or amateurs.

Therefore, even despite the position of the union, the match may not take place.

It seems to me that the Russian side should express the wish that the team of Bosnia and Herzegovina consist of legionnaires or football players of a level not lower than the local major league.

And then their federation will receive confirmation from each athlete.

So, it will probably be right.

If they all run like rats from a ship, for God's sake.

Once again we will see their European solidarity.

We will not play with the reserve, will we?

When I headed the second team, we didn’t even have thoughts of holding a match with the main team, we met with the youth team, ”Bilyaletdinov explained to RT.

At the same time, the specialist added that if the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina refuses the match in St. Petersburg, you should not be very upset.

The RFU just needs to keep looking for a sparring team.

“Meet with Amkal?

Still, there is no need to exaggerate the situation so much.

It’s just that the Russian team will be on pause for now and will continue to look for those teams that will agree to the meeting.

We will play with Kyrgyzstan, and with Iran - this is a good team, a participant in the World Cup.

Until the wind changes, this will continue to happen.

Eternal looking around, wedge politics.

We have such times today.

But in any case, you need to get out of this situation with pride, honor and develop your sport.

Of course, it’s easy for me to reason, I grew up in a different time.

Then the USSR championship was in the first place, and European cups were just an addition.

Domestic championship matches were considered more prestigious.

You need to make your tournaments self-sufficient, like the English Premier League and the NHL.

Develop your own, ”said the coach.

The option of a sparring partner was immediately proposed by the former Lokomotiv defender Nemanja Peychinovich.

In his opinion, the Serbian team will definitely not refuse a friendly match.

“I don’t know how to characterize this behavior of the Bosnians.

Again, politics plays a role in the refusal.

Now countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina are under the control of America and the West.

Such behavior from them is quite logical.

I think Russia should agree with the Football Union of Serbia on holding a friendly match.

Now the Russian team needs game practice, and the Serbs will not throw the RFU in the same way as the Bosnians are trying, ”Sport24 quotes the football player.