Former "Spartak" team player Yevgeniy Makeev emphasized that naturalizing foreign players for the Russian national team is not important. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.
In his opinion, the main focus should be on developing their own players, not inviting foreign legionnaires with Russian passports. Makeev recalled the example of Mario Fernandes, who was playing for Russia in international competitions at the time.
Now, according to him, the priority should be for Russian players to take the field. He said: "Russian citizens should play football.
Currently, there is no point in naturalizing anyone." Additionally, it was previously reported that "Zenit" defender Douglas Santos changed his sports citizenship back to Brazilian after obtaining a Russian passport in 2024.
This situation highlights the complexity of the naturalization policy and once again confirms the necessity of developing local personnel. It is also important to support national players in football and expand their opportunities.
Thus, the future of Russian football depends on improving the skills of its own players.
