Valery Karpin discusses injury risks and friendly matches in TASS interview

The head coach of the Russian national football team Valery Karpin, in an interview with TASS, explained why the national team will not play in the championship of the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), and also spoke about the work on holding a summer training camp and organizing friendly matches.

– Valery Georgievich, on Tuesday the RFU made a statement after refusing to participate in the CAFA championship. It follows, I quote, that “the decision not to participate in the tournament was made after an internal discussion, including with the coaching staff of the national team.” Could you voice the reasons that the coaching staff of the national team indicated?

– I will not reveal any secrets, especially since I have already spoken on this topic before. There are several reasons. The first is the timing of the tournament. Only on June 11 will the final of the Cup of the country take place, and the decision to participate in the tournament had to be made now, and before the games of Spartak with Akron and Krasnodar with Wings. That is, some of the players in any case could not join the national team at the beginning of preparations for the tournament. You also need to take into account the conditions of the tournament. This is Tashkent or Bishkek, it is obvious that the temperature is over 30 degrees Celsius. In Bishkek, I want to remind you that an artificial field has been laid, where the risk of injury increases significantly. For example, after the game in Bishkek last autumn, five players of the national team could not take part in the next game.

– Well, let’s say the players of the two clubs will be involved in the final match of the Cup of the country. But you can also call from other clubs, since the national team has been experimental lately.

– Yes, of course, we would again gladly call the young and inexperienced, but, as we see, no one cares about them – everyone needs a result here and now (smiles).

– Critics of the decision not to participate in the CAFA tournament believe that, for obvious reasons, the Russian team should not have refused the invitation – we don’t have much choice now.

– The choice is really not great, but this does not mean that it is worth sacrificing the health of the players, depriving them of the opportunity to spend a full vacation. Moreover, these are not official matches, but a friendly tournament. Now, if participation in the tournament became part of the preparation for official matches, then it might be worth the risk. By the way, I would like to express my gratitude to all the clubs that, in the current situation, release players to the national team. Despite all the risks of injury and the unofficial status of our matches.

– In 2022, the summer camp of the national team was just canceled for a similar reason. You then explained that after the end of the season it is better to give the players a rest, since the Russian team does not have the opportunity to play official matches. Is it possible to cancel the collection now?

– In our situation, everything is possible, but the leadership of the RFU is doing everything necessary to hold friendly matches in the next windows of the calendar of the International Football Federation (FIFA), including in June. We hope that the negotiations will lead to success and we will be able to hold a full-fledged training camp with the match. Ideally, of course, in Russia, with our fans.

Well, in general, I would not compare last year’s situation with the current one. If you remember, the decision to remove our team from the League of Nations was made at the beginning of May 2022. Now the RFU has accumulated some experience, which allows us to hope that the June training camp will take place.