Despite being banned from key international competitions, Russia has successfully arranged friendly matches with various nations, including Zambia, reflecting longstanding ties. Zambia’s FA justified their decision to play Russia as a necessity to keep the team active, emphasizing a non-discriminatory approach to football amidst political contexts. In the March 2023 FIFA window, with other fixtures unavailable due to cancellations, Zambia sought to utilize this opportunity for engagement, while highlighting community ties that span over six decades between the two nations.
It's just a friendly game. It has nothing to do with the official games," Zambia FA communications director, Sydney Mungala, told DW. "Basically, this was a football decision from the Zambian perspective.
When they came calling, I think for us, we were looking for an opportunity to keep our team engaged during this FIFA window, and we couldn't pass the opportunity to play this game.
I think we also treat it as an act of solidarity with humanity from wherever they are. So for us, football is not discriminatory.
Zambia and Russia have a relationship going back 60 years. I think one of the countries that rendered solidarity to Zambia a few days after gaining independence.
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