Russian Football Union
The Russian Football Union (RFS) is Russia’s national governing body for football. Based in Moscow, it runs amateur and professional football, including men’s, women’s, youth, beach soccer, futsal and Paralympic teams. It also sanctions referees and organizes competitions like the Russian Premier League.
Leadership and membership: The RFS is led by President Aleksandr Dyukov (CEO of Gazprom Neft), with a board chaired by Nikita Simonyan and a director general, Aleksandr Alayev. It is a member of FIFA and UEFA and maintains ties with the IOC.
A brief history: Russian football began under the All-Russian Football Union (VFS) in 1912, which joined FIFA that year. In the Soviet era, the Football Federation of the USSR joined FIFA in 1946 and UEFA in 1954. After the USSR dissolved, two groups claimed to govern Russian football, but the modern Russian Football Union was formed in February 1992. FIFA and UEFA recognized the RFU as the successor to the Soviet and RSFSR federations, and the Russian national team started play under the RFU in 1992.
Recent events: Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian teams from international competition. Adidas ended its kit sponsorship in 2022. There were discussions about moving to the Asian Football Confederation, but by late 2023 the RFU said it would remain in UEFA for now and would reconsider only if global bodies changed their stance. In October 2023, FIFA and UEFA allowed Russian under-17 teams to return to some competitions, but several countries refused to play them, and UEFA later dropped that plan. In February 2026, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Russia’s return to international football should be considered, noting the bans had achieved little, but no decision had been made to readmit Russia yet.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:57 (CET).