Football in Crimea

Last updated

Football in Crimea is governed by the Republican Football Federation of Crimea. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Federation joined the Russian Football Union. The professional clubs of Crimea were reincorporated under the Russian jurisdiction and placed in the Russian Second League, while previously competing in various Ukrainian leagues. Due to protest from the Football Federation of Ukraine, UEFA ordered to remove Crimean clubs from the Russian professional competitions and instead organized special competitions under auspices of a Crimean Football Union, [1] while preserving the Republican Football Federation of Crimea.

Contents

The top league in Crimea today is the Crimean Premier League which has 8 teams. At present, Crimean football clubs have no access to European competitions. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

History

At the time of the first establishment of an official football governing body in Russia - 19 January 1912 – Crimea was part of the Russian Empire. The all-Russian Football Union went on to join FIFA on 30 June 1912. After the 1917 October Revolution where Russian empire gave place to Soviet Union, the later took the seat at FIFA and UEFA which belonged to Russian empire. Since the establishment of the Soviet Union, Crimean clubs participated in the Ukrainian Soviet competitions as early as 1920, but soon were withdrawn and restored to Russian competitions. After transfer of Crimea in 1954, the Crimean clubs rejoined Ukrainian competitions, among which were Avanhard Sevastopol, Trud Simferopol, and Metalurh Kerch.

Among the most noticeable clubs of the region is SC Tavriya Simferopol that won three championships of the Ukrainian SSR as well as the Ukrainian Top League.

Despite the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the teams from Crimea, Sevastopol and Tavriya Simferopol, continued to participate in the Ukrainian Premier League until the end of the season. [7] However, they were then disbanded and reformed under Russian laws, seeking to join the Russian league system for the 2014/15 season. Three Crimean clubs finally briefly joined a Russian regional division, but they were expelled after UEFA ruled against the move.

In March 2015, UEFA announced that it would treat Crimea as a “special zone,” as neither Russian nor Ukrainian, and that it would help Crimea develop its own soccer system. In return, Russia agreed that the Crimean clubs would not ask to play in European competitions for at least two years.

Players

Several players from Crimea played for the Ukraine national football team, among which Serhiy Lezhentsev, Serhiy Kovalets, Denys Holaido, Serhiy Yesin, Oleksandr Svystunov, and Oleksandr Yevtushok.

Some Crimean players played for the Russia national football team, among which is Evgeni Aldonin who is the only player to play for the senior team.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimea</span> Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia since 2014

Crimea is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a population of 2.4 million. The peninsula is almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Sivash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simferopol</span> Second-largest city on the Crimean Peninsula

Simferopol is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is under the de facto control of Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and regards Simferopol as the capital of the Republic of Crimea. Simferopol is an important political, economic and transport hub of the peninsula, and serves as the administrative centre of both Simferopol Municipality and the surrounding Simferopol District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SC Tavriya Simferopol</span> Crimean football club (1958–2014)

Sports Club Tavriya was a Ukrainian football club from Simferopol. Tavriya was a member of the Ukrainian Premier League from its founding and won the first Ukrainian Premier League making them one of three teams that have ever held this title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lokomotiv Republican Sports Complex</span>

Lokomotiv Stadium (Tavriya) is a multi-purpose stadium in Simferopol, Territory of Ukraine, occupied by Russia . It is currently used mostly for football matches, and is the home of FC TSK Simferopol, and formerly SC Tavriya Simferopol. The stadium holds 19,978 people and was built in 1967 and renovated in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FC Sevastopol</span> Football club

FC Sevastopol was a Ukrainian football club based in Sevastopol. The club was a spiritual descendant of the Soviet clubs from Sevastopol such as Chaika Sevastopol. After the completion of 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League season due to the 2014 Crimean Conflict, the club ceased its existence and applied for a Russian license with the new name FC SKChF Sevastopol.

Like the championship, the first edition of the Cup had a tight schedule as the Football Federation of Ukraine was given just several months in order to switch to the European seasonal format with the minimum required matches played.

Oleksandr Mykolayovych Haydash ; Aleksandr Nikolaevich Gaydash ; is a former Ukrainian and Russian professional football striker.

The Ukrainian Cup 1993–94 was the third annual edition of Ukraine's football knockout competition, known as the Ukrainian Cup.

Yuriy Arkadiyovych Hudymenko is a former Kyrgyz-born Ukrainian professional footballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FC Ocean Kerch</span> Football club

FC Ocean Kerch is a Ukrainian football team based in Kerch. After the Russian annexation of Crimea was admitted to the Crimean Premier League as a Russian team.

The 2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 23rd since its establishment.

The 2013–14 FC Karpaty Lviv season will be the 51st season in club history.

The 2014–15 Ukrainian Premier League season was the 24th since its establishment. The competition commenced on 25 July when Metalurh Donetsk hosted Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Lviv. With the continuation of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk the Football Federation of Ukraine, the league reduced the number of teams.

FK Chernomorets Sevastopol is a professional football club based in Sevastopol, Crimea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FC TSK Simferopol</span> Russian association football team

FC TSK Simferopol is a professional football team based in Simferopol, Crimea, that was created in place of Ukrainian SC Tavriya Simferopol, following 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

The KFS Premier-Liga or simply Crimean Premier League is a professional association football league in Crimea organized by Crimean Football Union and devised by Russia after UEFA refused to allow Crimean clubs to switch to the Russian leagues in the wake of the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

Republican Football Federation of Crimea (RFFK) is a football governing body in the region of Crimea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea</span> Government body of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine

The Prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea - is a State Government Body. According to the Constitution and the Ukrainian Law, its functions at the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are prosecution, representation, supervision and control. According to the Acting Prosecutor General's decree No33 dated June 12, 2014, the Prosecutor's office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was temporarily relocated to Kyiv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimea national football team</span> Crimean sports team

Crimea national football team is a football national team representing the Crimea peninsula in international and local friendly matches. The team is controlled by the Crimean Football Union. Crimea is not a member of FIFA nor of UEFA, but is a member of the unofficial organization ConIFA.

References

  1. ↑ "UEFA-backed Crimean league begins following 2014 annexation by Russia". espnfc.co.uk. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "UEFA-backed league starts play in Crimea". Yahoo Sports. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Futbolgrad (2 June 2015). "Crimea - Professional Football Returns - Futbolgrad". Futbolgrad. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "UEFA Appears Prepared to Allow League in Crimea". The New York Times. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Giulianelli, Emanuele (20 March 2015). "A Crimean league? Football caught up in annexation struggle". the Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Premier League (Crimea) 2015/2016". flashscore.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Rogovitskiy, Dmitriy (24 March 2014). "Mutko expects top Crimean clubs to play in Russia". Reuters . Retrieved 5 April 2016.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.