Russia and Italy to play friendly football match in November 2017
The match may be held in Italy
The national football teams of Russia and Italy will hold a friendly football match in November of 2017, Vitaly Mutko, the president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), said on Oct. 19.
"We have reached an agreement on one match and it will take place in November 2017," Mutko, who also holds the post of the Russian sports minister, told journalists. "We are currently considering a possibility of playing this match in Italy."
The RFU and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) signed on Oct. 19 in Moscow an agreement on cooperation, which particularly stipulates exchange of resources and experience as well as Russia’s access to consulting services and facilities in Rome.
The visiting Italian delegation is headed by FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio, who held bilateral talks in Moscow with RFU chief Mutko.
"However, we also spoke about playing another (friendly) match here in Russia," Mutko said. "It is most likely that it could be played on the eve of the (2018 FIFA) World Cup."
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The national teams around the globe are currently in the qualifying stage battling for the place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while Russia as the host nation has been already guaranteed the birth in the world’s main quadrennial football event.
Therefore, the Russian national team is playing friendly football matches in the run-up to the much anticipated FIFA World Cup and the game against Costa Rica on Oct. 9 was its third friendly encounter over the past two months.
Russia is also scheduled to play two more friendly games before December, which are against Qatar on Nov. 10 in Doha and Romania on Nov. 15 in Chechnya’s Grozny.
The Russia football squad played two friendly matches in early September - against Turkey (0-0) and then versus Ghana (1-0).
Source: TASS