“Karpin did not contact Ozdoev, but maybe he would not have been allowed to join the national team” – agent

If the head coach of the Russian national football team Valery Karpin deems it necessary the next time to call Magomed Ozdoev to the national team, the player will be happy to go, said agent Anzor Gargaev, representing the interests of the ex-Zenit player.

On March 17, the Russian national team’s press service published a list of 29 players who will take part in the Novogorsk training camp from March 19 to 28. Ozdoev, 30, was not on that list.

– The head coach has the prerogative of choice. We fully support this position. If Karpin is a coach, it’s purely his choice. As far as I know, Karpin did not contact Magomed, but at the same time there is no misunderstanding or conflict between them. If Karpin finds it necessary to call Magomed next time, he will gladly go. Ozdoev is a Russian citizen. He played many matches for the national team. If Karpin doesn’t want to call, no problem.

Our players, who now play abroad, are in the middle of the national championship. Moreover, the Turkish championship was suspended for almost a month due to the tragedy, and the deadline for the end of the championship remained the same. As a result, the schedule has become tighter. Magomed might not have been allowed to join the national team. But we did not encounter this problem. If there was a challenge, if such a problem arose, we would try to solve it. Now we can only speculate about that,” Gargaev told Metaratings.ru.

Earlier, Karpin in an interview with said he won’t call players over 30 until the national team has official matches.

At the end of February 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian teams and clubs from participating in international tournaments.

Metaratings.ru