April 20 – Russian authorities are to build two new sports centres in Crimea in the latest move to cement their influence in the annexed peninsula where UEFA have already barred Russian-administered teams from competing in their competitions or the Russian domestic league.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said the venues would act as warm-weather training complexes for elite Russian athletes.
“This year we have allocated around 400 million rubles ($7.7 million) to build to state sporting centres,” Mutko told the TASS news agency.
“I want to choose those centres that will be important and necessary for our sports teams, but also those that will create the correct conditions for our sportsmen and women as Crimea experiences various weather conditions.”
After Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last year, the region’s two existing Ukrainian Premier League clubs were shut down and three new teams created to play in the Russian leagues. Mutko has tried to incorporate Crimea teams under the banner of the Russian Football Union but UEFA blocked the move after protests from the Ukrainian Football Federation.
In December UEFA ruled that Crimean clubs could not take part in the Russian league, saying it would administer the peninsula as a ”special zone’.’ Last month, it was announced that the governing body of European football had approved a separate league to be set up in the disputed territory.
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