Crimean Premier League (original) (raw)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's association football league organized by Crimean Football Union

Football league

Crimean Premier League

Founded	2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Country	Russian Federation
Region	Crimea
Confederation	UEFA
Number of clubs	8
Level on pyramid	5
Promotion to	Russian Second League
Relegation to	Crimean Open Championship
Domestic cup(s)	Crimean CupCrimean Super Cup
Most championships	FC Sevastopol5 titles
TV partners	YouTube (live streaming)
Website	cfu2015.com
Current: 2023 Crimean Premier League

The KFS Premier-Liga (Russian: Премьер-лига КФС) or simply Crimean Premier League is a professional[1] association football league in Crimea organized by the Crimean Football Union (Krymsky Futbolny Soyuz) 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.[2]

For full list of Crimean champions, see Republican Football Federation of Crimea. Both Republican Football Federation of Crimea and Crimean Football Union exist in Crimea. Sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Sports,[3] the legal status of Crimean Football Union is not recognized by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The professional status of the league as it claims to be could not to be verified.[3]

Despite restrictions from UEFA, in 2023 better teams from the league Sevastopol and Rubin Yalta were admitted to the Russian third tier competitions, while other teams joined the so called the Sodruzhestvo Liga (Commonwealth League) which was created on territory of Ukraine that is occupied by the Russian Federation. Such step placed the league inside the Russian football league pyramid as a regional feeder. The UEFA reaction was to extend restrictions against the Russian national team and the top tier clubs from competing at continental competitions.

The league was formed by UEFA delegation that is led by former president of the Slovak Football Association František Laurinec.[2] Five of eight teams have never participated at professional level and according to the official UEFA evaluation the region has a poor football infrastructure.[2] According to Laurinec "UEFA wants to help save football in Crimea."[2] Ukrainian officials do not seem to be strongly against the separate league in Crimea, but do remain firm in their stance that Crimea is part of Ukraine.[2]

In 2016 Vyacheslav Koloskov expressed his opinion that UEFA is not considering to grant Crimea a membership.[4] The president of the Crimean Football Union responded to Koloskov by saying that UEFA has two ways of solving the issue, either recognize Crimea as part of the Russian Federation or grant a membership like in case with Kosovo.[5] There was an opinion that the Crimean football union can become an independent member of UEFA just like the Gibraltar Football Association.[1]

Just like its funding, most of the league's players come from the Russian mainland although it does field some local players.[3] A couple of Brazilian and Ukrainian players who chose to play in the league are under a risk of personal sanctions from the Ukrainian Association of Football.[3]

In its third season attendance of the Crimean Premier League varied from about 3,500 spectators at one match to 300 at others. Not all the stadiums are up to standards. One club plays on its training field.[3]

A promotion/relegation game on 7 June 2018 where entrance was free gathered no more than 400 spectators. President of FC Avangard Yalta Igor Kashpirko acknowledged that some players, besides playing football, work elsewhere.[3]

The first competitive match was a 2–2 draw between SKChF Sevastopol and TSK-Tavria Simferopol in August 2015. The UEFA sanctioned league has 8 teams: TSK Simferopol, SKCHF Sevastopol, Rubin Yalta, Bakhchisaray, Yevpatoriya, Kafa, Ocean Kerch and Berkut Evpatoria.[6][7][8][9][10][11] TSK and SKCHF are relatively independent financially, while the rest six clubs in Crimea are financed by the Ministry of Sport of Russian Federation, according to a local journalist.[12] There also were intentions to invite former Russian international football player Andrei Kanchelskis to coach one of the clubs in Crimea.[12]

While sanctioned by UEFA, the Crimean Premier League is not listed as a regular top-level league.[13]

• Republican Football Federation of Crimea

1. ^ Archived 13 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

2. ^ "UEFA-backed Crimean league begins following 2014 annexation by Russia". ESPN FC. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2017.

3. ^ a b c d e A Crimean league? Football caught up in annexation struggle. The Guardian. 20 March 2015

4. ^ a b c d e f Longman, Jeré (2 July 2018). "Stuck in Soccer Limbo, in the Shadow of the World Cup". The New York Times.

5. ^ Koloskov: UEFA is not considering to include CFU in the Union, but rather its integration into the Russian football (Колосков: УЕФА думает не о включении КФС в Союз, а об его интеграции в российский футбол). TASS. 4 May 2016

6. ^ Vetokha: Crimean Football Union could join UEFA as in case with Kosovo (Ветоха: Крымский футбольный союз может войти в УЕФА по примеру Косово). RIA Novosti. 4 May 2016

7. ^ "UEFA-backed Crimean league begins following 2014 annexation by Russia". espnfc.co.uk. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

8. ^ "UEFA-backed league starts play in Crimea". Yahoo Sports. 23 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

9. ^ Futbolgrad (2 June 2015). "Crimea – Professional Football Returns – Futbolgrad". Futbolgrad. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

10. ^ "UEFA Appears Prepared to Allow League in Crimea". The New York Times. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

11. ^ Giulianelli, Emanuele (20 March 2015). "A Crimean league? Football caught up in annexation struggle". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2016.

12. ^ "Premier League (Crimea) 2015/2016". flashscore.com. Retrieved 20 February 2016.

13. ^ a b Dubas, M. Ukraine's soccer clubs perform in European competitions. The Ukrainian Weekly. 13 November 2015

14. ^ European leagues and cups. UEFA website. 17 April 2016

15. ^ "TSK-Tavriya win first edition of Crimean championship". Eurosport. 16 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2016.

16. ^ "Crimea 2016/17".

• Official website