MOSCOW: Russia have cancelled Monday’s friendly international against Paraguay in Moscow following Friday’s shooting rampage near the capital city, the Russian Football Union (RFU) said on Saturday.

At least 115 people were killed after gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons ahead of a concert by Soviet-era rock band Piknik near Moscow, with Islamic State militant group

claiming responsibility. Russia on Saturday said it had arrested 11 people, including all four attackers.

Russia, banned from FIFA and UEFA competitions in February 2022 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, can only play friendly games and defeated Serbia 4-0 on Thursday at Moscow’s VTB Arena, and were due to play Paraguay at the same venue on Monday.

“In connection with the terrorist attack that occurred in Krasnogorsk, the Russian Football Union and the Paraguayan Football Association decided to cancel a friendly match between the national teams of Russia and Paraguay,” the RFU said in a statement. The federation said the match could be rearranged at a later date.

All entertainment and mass events in Russia had been cancelled on Friday by the Russian Culture Ministry and the RFU announced on Saturday that they have postponed all matches in their competitions scheduled for this weekend.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2024