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Russian Football Union risks Fifa sanctions for accepting Crimean teams into league
Russia has risked incurring the wrath of Fifa after its football union voted to incorporate three clubs from the annexed Crimea region into their third division, a decision apparently motivated by fear of upsetting president Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Football Union, host federation of the 2018 World Cup, has breached Fifa statutes which state that clubs can only swap national jurisdictions with the consent of both associations.
Tavria Simferopol, SKChF Sevastopol and Zhemchuzhina Yalta played in the Russian Cup yesterday, without the consent of the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU).
Anatoly Konkov, head of the FFU, has now called upon both Fifa and Uefa to issue sanctions against the RFU in a letter posted to its website last night.
Konkov’s letter states:
We have witnessed the executive committee of the Russian football union illegally and arbitrarily embracing the Ukrainian clubs from the Crimea peninsula.As the president of the Ukrainian national association, I am asking you to take all necessary actions to deal with the situation, including applying sanctions to the part that broke the regulations (the RFU).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.
The New York Times reported last night that a leaked recording published in Russian investigative magazine Novaya Gazeta revealed Russian football executives to be worried about the possibility that their clubs may be ejected from the Champions League and even stripped of the World Cup.
Ahead of a vote on whether to incorporate the three Crimean clubs, the executives appear to be caught in two minds – they are worried leaving the clubs alone could upset orders Vladimir Putin yet incorporating them into the Russian league could invite sanctions against their clubs.
"The World Cup will go to England," Evgeny Giner, President of Champions League side CKSA Moscow, is reported to have said in warning of possible Fifa sanctions.
Russia annexed the Crimea region in March after protesters in Kiev had led to the departure of Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovich.
Fifa's handling of Ukraine's complaints is likely to be watched carefully. Football's organising body has come in for heavy criticism for its decision to award the tournament to both Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
Last month Nick Clegg said that Russia should be stripped of the tournament due to their continuing presence in Ukraine, describing it as "unthinkable" that the tournament could go ahead.