The Putin government announced an agreement with the Russian Football Union to join the league with clubs from the invaded regions
The agreement includes, among others, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zoryá Lugansk, from the Ukrainian first division
The international relations They work in such a way that anything that happens between two states could affect all the dimensions of that region, be they social, cultural… or sports. The Russian invasion of Ukrainewhich this October has already fulfilled eight months, has once again directly splashed football in both countries. At the time, Russian clubs were expelled from European competitions as punishment for the country; was the first of several effects that the war conflict – u ‘special operation’as Putin prefers to call it – has provoked the beautiful game.
This Monday, the government of President Vladimir Putin reached a agreement with the Russian Football Union (UFR) for include on the russian league to the teams from the invaded regions and later appended: Donetsk, Luhansk, Jerzon and Zaporizhia. “We will integrate the new territories into the football championships, so that all regions can be considered full participants,” justified Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Chernishenko.
Shakhtar would not be the only one affected
One of the teams that has suffered most directly from the consequences of the conflict, even since the seed of war between the two countries was born back in 2014, is the Shakhtar Donetsk. It is precisely one of the most recognized clubs in Ukrainian football for its constant presence in the Champions League group stages or in Europa League qualifiers. Without going any further, this same season the thirteen-time champion of Ukraine faced Real Madrid in the European Cup, with a draw included in the match in which they played at home in Poland, given the impossibility of playing at their stadium, Donbass. Sand.
Shakhtar is a history of football in his country. Besides thirteen league championships mentioned, the team has in its record other thirteen cups, nine super cups and even a Europa League title: the 2008-09when they knocked down in the Istanbul final Werder Bremen German. However, the Donetsk Oblast team would not be the only one included in the agreement between Putin and the UFR. Another traditional Ukrainian top-flight team, and also a regular in the European group stages, would also be caught up in the move. Its about Zorya Luganskbelonging to the homonymous oblast, and which for weeks, like the other three regions, belongs to de facto to the Russian Federation following the unrecognized referendums held on its territory.
Although the Zoryá does not have any Ukrainian title in his record – he does they won the Soviet Union league in 1972 -, have been a constant team in European competitions: they have played Europa League and Conference in eight of the last nine seasons. On the other hand, the regions of Jerzón and Zaporizhia, although they do not have elite teams in their country, have also been included in the agreement. The Kristall Kherson currently disputes the Ukrainian second division, while the Metallurg Zaporizhia it does in the third category.
Russia already tried it before with the Crimean clubs
This is not the first time that Vladimir Putin and his government team have used a similar strategy to try normalize conquest from some Ukrainian region. In 2014, after the annexation of crimeaRussia announced a similar agreement to include in its football historic SC Tavriya Simferopol, Ukraine’s first champion in 1992 after the disintegration of the USSR and the only team other than Shakhtar and Dynamo kyiv to be among the country’s league champions. The club also won the 2010 Cup. Also included was the FC Sevastopolbelonging at that time, likewise, to the Ukrainian Premier League.
However, this situation provoked the rejection of Ukraine, which appealed to UEFA to sanction Russia for the measures taken. The clubs were eventually liquidated and re-founded as Simferopol (former Tavriya) TSK and Sevastopol SKCHF and included in the new Crimean Premier League. It should be noted that Tavriya, under its previous name, was, in the same way, resurrected in Ukrainian football, although falling to the lower categories of football in that country. Currently, the new Tavriya disputes the third division of Ukraine.