The head of Ukraine’s football governing body dispelled rumors that he gave the green light for Crimean soccer clubs to compete in Russia’s soccer league during the March 27 Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) congress in Astana, Kazakhstan.
“I didn’t meet with anyone and speak on the topic of where
Tavria (Simferopol) and FC Sevastopol should play,” said Anatoliy Konkov, president
of the Football Federation of Ukraine. “The FFU will never give any guarantees to
clubs that take part in the Ukrainian Premier League. If they want to leave on
their own then they won’t play anywhere. Tavria and Sevastopol are Ukrainian
(soccer) clubs, therefore they should play in the (Ukrainian) Premier League.”
On its part, UEFA hasn’t so far “received any official
request” connecting soccer clubs to Russia, UEFA General Secretary Gianni
Infantino told AFP, following an executive committee meeting in Astana.
“The situation in Ukraine, Russia and Crimea
is known to all, this is unfortunately not the football, we read the media, but
for the moment we have not received any official request for affiliation (club
from Crimea, depending on the Ukrainian football championship, to
Russia),” Infantino said.
He continued: “The situation is changing day
by day, we will not take a position, because what we say, it could be
misinterpreted, the day we will be seized by a formal request, we will
investigate and we will see, but it is far too early to comment on this
question. We hope that all will happen in a good way that football unites
people.”
Ever since Russia invaded and subsequently annexed
Crimea in late February-early March, the question of whether its top two soccer
clubs – Tavria and FC Sevastopol – would continue playing in the Ukrainian
league has been raised.
Both clubs have had to play scheduled home games
away ever since the domestic league resumed play on March 15 following a
two-month winter break. The presidents of both soccer clubs have stated that
they intend to finish the season in the Ukrainian league.
Kyiv
Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
