Arshavin was surprised by the data of a VTsIOM survey on the decline of interest in football in Russia

Former Russian national footballer Andrey Arshavin told that he was surprised by data from a VTsIOM survey, according to which the proportion of residents interested in football in the country has decreased.

On Monday, VTsIOM reported that, according to the latest survey, the share of Russians indifferent to football has increased over the past 19 years, from 43 to 77 percent. According to the results of the survey, the share of regular supporters has almost quintupled since 2005 (from 19 to 4% in 2024). Additionally, from 47% in 2009 to 17% in 2024, the proportion of Russians able to name an active Russian footballer they were interested in decreased.

— It’s surprising to hear about the absence of recognizable football players. Despite all the bans and bans, Safonov plays for PSG, Miranchuk won the Europa League last season and scores in MLS, Golovin is a real star in France, Gazprom Arena is one of the most visited stadiums in Europe. From the UFL, Batrakov, Pinyaev, Tyukavin, Volkov enter the national team. In women’s football, over the past 3-4 years, teams have appeared in Zenit, Dynamo, Spartak and Krasnodar.

The national football team is the only one of all sports to organize international matches in Moscow and in regions where there are top rivals – Cameroon and Serbia. And he not only holds them, but collects full stands,” Arshavin told .

Since 2022, Russian clubs and national teams have been suspended from participation in tournaments under the auspices of FIFA and UEFA due to the situation in Ukraine.

Watch live broadcasts of MIR RPL matches on the and MATCH PREMIER channels, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru sites.

More sports news in our telegram channel .