By Mark Baber
August 13 – The Crimean clubs of TSK Simferopol, SKChF Sevastopol and Zhemchuzhina Yalta played their first games in the Russian Cup last night, triggering calls from Ukraine’s football federation to FIFA and UEFA to sanction the Russian Football Union (RFU) for bringing Crimean clubs into its league structure.
The legal status of Crimea has been the subject of international dispute since March 2014 and the status of Crimean football clubs something of a legal minefield. With widespread unrest and now open armed conflict in parts of Ukraine, it was clearly impossible for the Crimean clubs to continue to play in the Ukrainian league, and the previous legal entities ceased their existences, with new Russian-registered clubs set up.
On July 3 the Ukrainian Football Federation (FFU) announced its fixtures, without the Crimean clubs, and on August 8 the Board of the Bureau of the RFU officially approved three Crimean clubs as part of the composition of the All-Russian competition of football second division clubs PFL zone “South”.
Ukraine Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, on July 27. Put pressure on the FFU calling for it to “take a clear position” saying: “Sanctions against the aggressor and sponsor of terrorism should be all over the field!”
A delegation from FIFA reportedly hoped to discuss the issue with the FFU, but were rebuffed, with the head of the FFU information department Pavlo Ternovy telling Interfax-Ukraine on Monday: “The FIFA delegation has arrived in Kyiv for a meeting with the leadership of the Football Federation of Ukraine exclusively within the framework of the Performance program, as part of which we met a year ago with the same representatives of FIFA.
“There can be no negotiations on Crimean clubs. The Crimean clubs are part of the Ukrainian football and part of the FFU. The position of the Ukrainian federation concerning the Crimean clubs has been clear, unambiguous and unchangeable.”
On Tuesday an official letter of complaint addressed to FIFA and UEFA, signed by FFU president Anatoly Konkov was released saying, “We have witnessed the executive committee of the Russian football union illegally and arbitrarily embracing the Ukrainian clubs from the Crimea peninsula.”
Unsurprisingly the letter demanded, “all necessary actions to deal with the situation, including applying sanctions to the part that broke the regulations (the RFU) and ignores the basic principles of the higher football institutions.”
According to Konkov, “Crimea is a part of Ukraine, that is why all football members fall into the jurisdiction of the Football Federation of Ukraine.
“We are asking for your answer to clear up the ‘Crimean issue’ as soon as possible. The future of Ukrainian and world football depends on you.”
A purported leaked recording of discussions over Crimean clubs, published in part by Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta on Monday, suggests top Russian football executives are concerned about possible sanctions over the issue, and the possibility of it being used to justify moving the World Cup to England and resolved to seek guidance on the issue from the Russian authorities.
FIFA has historically avoided becoming involved in territorial disputes between nations, usually taking a pragmatic view on what is in the best interests of football in the territory concerned.
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