Human rights campaigners have urged Australia to help block any Russian bid to return to international football by joining the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Russia was banned by the European governing body, Uefa, and Fifa earlier this year after the invasion of Ukraine and as a result disqualified from the play-off stage to make the Qatar World Cup.

The president of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Aleksander Dyukov, has raised the possibility of Russia leaving Uefa and applying to join the AFC, which would allow the national team and clubs such as Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow to compete internationally again.

“Politics is in first place [in Europe], football has faded into the background, Dyukov told Russian media after a recent meeting of the RFU executive committee.

“We saw this at the World Cup in Qatar. Today they [Europe] are not satisfied with this situation. Tomorrow they will ask questions about human rights, the day after tomorrow it will turn out that we are not energetically supporting the LGBT movement, and this will also be the basis for a boycott.”

The prospect of Russia rejoining international football has concerned Amnesty International Australia, which said the ban should remain in place. Fifa governs entry to global competitions such as the men’s and women’s World Cup, but each confederation has jurisdiction over its own tournaments, such as the Asian Cup.

“Given Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, it would be hard for members of the Asian Football Confederation to reconcile its entry to the Confederation with Fifa’s human rights policy,” Amnesty International’s Nikita White said.

“We’ve seen strong statements from the PFA and Socceroos on the importance of human rights in the game and I can’t imagine an attempt by Russia to join the AFC to be welcomed by those who value human rights for all.

“Human rights and sports aren’t mutually exclusive – we saw at the recent World Cup that issues such as workers’ rights, women’s rights and the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community are important to football fans and players alike.”

Bonita Mersiades, a former Football Australia executive who was head of public affairs during Australia’s bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 men’s World Cup, said any request from Russia should be rejected.

“Whether Russia is in Uefa or the AFC makes no difference to the core issue, which is that Russia should be banned from international sporting competitions,” she said.

“They have shown themselves to be a serial aggressor with no regard for human rights and the rules-based order.

“As such, they disqualify themselves from being part of the world sporting community. The question should be asked of Fifa as to why they even countenance Russia as a member at this time.”

The FUR has set a deadline of Saturday to make a decision, arguing that is necessary to ensure the national team could compete in upcoming Asian tournaments.

“If we don’t do this now, and later decide on the transition, then the next tournament for the national teams will be a cycle from 2027,” Dyukov said.

“Delaying the decision by a few days means that the national teams could lose four years.”

Any application from Russia to join the AFC would need to be approved initially by the confederation’s executive committee before going to a vote of the full membership, according to the confederation’s statutes.

A similar process occurred in 2005 when Australia left the 11-member Oceania Football Confederation to join the AFC.

Australia has a representative on the committee, Chris Nikou, who is the chairman of Football Australia.

While Australia, Japan and South Korea would likely be opposed to Russia’s application, other AFC members, including China, Iran and North Korea, might be inclined to support it.

Russia recently played friendly matches against Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Last week, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, told Russian state media that preparations were being made for friendly matches in 2023.

Last season’s Uefa Champions League final was moved from St Petersburg to Paris in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Uefa also ended a sponsorship deal with the state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Football Australia has been contacted for comment.