Political uncertainty mars future of Crimea's athletes

Moscow's annexation of the strategic peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine has not only sparked the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War but also put under threat the sporting careers of Crimean athletes.

The future of football and basketball clubs in Crimea has been put on hold after the peninsula, long home to Russian military bases, was taken over by Moscow in March 2014 in a move condemned by Kiev and the West as an illegal land grab.

European football's ruling body, UEFA, and the International Basketball Federation, FIBA, have both banned Crimean teams from participating in Russia's championships.

Two Crimean football teams that played in Ukraine's top flight, Tavria Simferopol and Sevastopol, were disbanded soon after Crimea's annexation.

Three other teams -- TSK Simferopol, SKCF Sevastopol and Zhemchuzhina Yalta -- have been swiftly registered in the southern Russian cities of Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, where they played in the Russian third division.

But last year the three clubs were banned by UEFA from taking part in Russian competition from January 1.

"The Russian football federation cannot organise matches in Crimea without the agreement of UEFA and Ukraine," UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino announced in December.

"Following the decision of UEFA's emergency panel, the executive committee decided to ban Crimean clubs from taking part in competitions organised by the Russian Federation starting from January 1, 2015," Infantino added.

"Until a new order, Crimea will be considered as a special zone."

- Regret -

FIBA also refused to give permission for Crimean clubs to play in the Russian league, while offering to broker a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian basketball federations.

"It is not up to the FIBA to take a decision, but the solution must be jointly discussed between the Russian and Ukrainian basketball federations," FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann said in a letter to the two federations.

"FIBA has not taken any other position on the matter but remains at your disposal to organise the said meeting."

Alexander Volkov, the head of Ukraine's basketball federation, expressed his regret over the Crimean clubs' decision to withdraw from playing in Ukraine.

"It's a pity that the Crimean clubs refused to play in Ukrainian tournaments," he told AFP.

"It was a very good club in Sevastopol, while Crimean basketball in general gave Ukraine plenty of talent."

The careers of many Crimean individual athletes, who now want to compete under the Russian flag, are also hanging in the balance, awaiting the results of the talks between the two countries' sporting federations.

Ukrainian athletics federation chief Igor Gotsul said it would permit eight Crimean track and field athletes to compete for Russia, including javelin star Vera Rebrik, as long as Russia agreed to compensate Ukraine for the cost of training the athletes to a professional level.

"We've already informed the world athletics ruling body IAAF that together with Russia's athletics federation we've found a compromise in the case of Crimean track and field athletes," Gotsul said.

"And we'll give our permission for a simplified procedure of switching their sports citizenship as soon as the Russian side meets its obligations."

Ukraine's athletics boss added that the two countries decided to keep the amount of compensation a secret, but Ukraine is rumoured to have asked $150,000 (137,250 euros) for Rebrik's release.

The IAAF currently imposes a three-year waiting period for athletes who switch citizenship before they can compete for the other countries.

In what appears to be a similar case, Crimean windsurfer Olga Maslivets and her husband Maxim Oberemko, were given permission to compete for Russia by the international sailing federation, but Ukraine is demanding 100,000 euros ($109,300)for their release.

- No problem -  

"The issue with our transfer to Russia is still unresolved," Maslivets said in a recent interview.

"Ukraine is demanding 100,000 euros as compensation for their expenses, although we haven't got any funding in the last two years."

On the other hand, Francesco Ricci Bitti, the chief of the international tennis federation (ITF), said he saw no problem with Crimean players representing any country.

"Tennis is an individual sport and a Crimean player is free to represent any country for which he or she holds a passport," the world tennis boss said in a statement on the ITF official site.

"I believe that sport cannot disregard the political environment but should not be used for political purposes."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian professional boxer Alexander Usik, who was born and lives in the Crimean city of Simferopol, said he had no intention of changing his place of permanent residence, adding that he and his family feel comfortable there.

As a Ukrainian citizen, Usik added, he has never experienced any problems with crossing the border and has never been pressured to change his citizenship.

"No hints were ever dropped," the 2012 Olympic champion said.

"Simferopol is my home town and I'm set to remain its resident. Nothing will ever force me to leave my homeland."
Source: AFP