MOSCOW, August 12, Pavel Levkovich. State Duma Vice Speaker Sergei Neverov said , that clubs from Crimea should participate in tournaments under the auspices of the Russian Football Union (RFU) on an equal basis with teams from other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Earlier, the acting president of the Russian Premier League (RPL), Alexander Alaev, said that he did not see opportunities for the inclusion of Crimean teams in composition of the Russian Football Union (RFU).
"I am in favor of taking the Crimean clubs under the wing of the RFU. I have been for this since 2014, but then someone was worried about the sanctions, that our clubs would not play in European competitions and so on. Today, it seems to me, there are thousands of these sanctions, and they don’t let us go anywhere, and everything is banned or they don’t want to see us. And we still do not recognize the Crimean clubs, and the RFU does not take any action so that we return somewhere. Crimea is the territory of Russia as Bashkiria, Kemerovo region and Smolensk region. This is our area and our region. They should participate in tournaments on an equal footing with everyone else in the domestic championships of our country", Neverov said.
The vice speaker is also sure that the issue of recognition should concern not only football clubs, but also teams from other sports and individual athletes. «This issue concerns not only the RFU, global recognition of Crimea by the federations is needed. This should be done at the level of the Ministry of Sports, at the level of the Presidential Sports Council. These decisions must be made and all Crimean teams and athletes should be given the opportunity to take part in competitions,» Neverov added.