Brazilians Malcom and Claudinho, players of Zenit St. Petersburg, will receive Russian citizenship after receiving approval from the competent authorities, the general director of the football team, Alexandr Medvedev, told the official agency today. CASS.
“They told us about it and (the clearance) made the players happy. Now we are waiting for the date for the swearing-in ceremony to be set,” he explained.
Until they finally receive the Russian identity document in hand, it may still take many months or even years.
Zenit executive stressed that Malcom and Claudinho obtaining Russian citizenship doesn’t mean they can immediately play for the Russian team.
“Citizenship of the country is not equivalent to sports citizenship. Some time has to pass before they can play for the Russian national team,” Medvedev said.
Last September, the general director of Zenit told TASS that if the two players received Russian citizenship in 2024 in the case of Malcom and in 2026 in the case of Claudinho, it would be possible to talk about obtaining sports citizenship. , which is equivalent to the right. to play in the Russian national team.
Malcolm and Claudinho, Olympic champions with their country at Tokyo 2020, are 25 and 26 years old respectively and have been playing at Zenit since 2019 in the first case and since 2021 in the second.
On July 22, Zenit announced the renewal of both players’ contracts until the end of the 2026/27 season.