The two players, who were already part of the Brazilian Olympic team, play for the Zenit Saint Petersburg and could defend the Russian national team in the future. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, granted Russian citizenship to the Brazilian footballers Malcom and Claudinho, both from Zenit Saint Petersburg, according to an official decree issued this Friday (02/24), the same day the war in Ukraine ended for a year.

The desire to naturalize the Russians came from the players themselves. Last Saturday, the club’s general manager, Alexandr Medvedev, informed that the two attackers had received permission to receive Russian citizenship and that the definition of the date of the swearing-in ceremony was pending.

The leader also pointed out that obtaining citizenship for Malcom and Claudinho does not mean that they will be able to play for the Russian national team immediately. “Citizenship of the country is not the equivalent of sports citizenship. It must take some time before they can play for the Russian national team,” Medvedev told the official TASS news agency.

Both players can theoretically defend Russia, although both were part of Brazil’s Olympic team that won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021. In 2020, Fifa relaxed the rules so players having already defended a country can play in another selection.

In September last year, Zenit announced that the players wanted to obtain Russian citizenship.

Malcom, 25, has been defending Zenit since 2019, while Claudinho, 26, has played for the Saint Petersburg club since 2021. Last July, Zenit announced that both contracts had been renewed until the end of the season. .

cn/bl (Efe)

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