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Tomorrow is exactly one month since two Crimean clubs, Sevastopol and Rubin Yalta, illegally started in the second league of the Russian championship. During this time, eight illegal matches have been played, including three on the territory of the annexed peninsula.

We will remind, after the occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea by Russia in 2014, by decision of FIFA and UEFA, the "Crimean Football Union" (CFU) was created with a special status. Crimean teams could only participate in the domestic championship and cup, and are not allowed to play in any Russian tournament.

On 16 July, in violation of UEFA and FIFA norms, Sevastopol and Rubin Yalta played their first official matches against Russian teams. The very next day, on 17 July, the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) asked UEFA to react to the inclusion of Crimean clubs in the Russian championship. There has been no response to this appeal, at least officially available, to this day. The only response was a statement by a UEFA clerk that they are "in contact with the Ukrainian Football Association and the Russian Football Union on this matter".

As already reported, last Sunday, 16 July, two Crimean clubs - "Sevastopol" and "Rubin Yalta" illegally started in the second league of the Russian championship.

There are some very interesting characters in the Sevastopol team.

28-year-old defender Matvey Guiganov is the son of Dynamo Kyiv footballer Alexander Guiganov, who was born in Sevastopol. Dad's career in the Ukrainian capital did not go well, as it was said, because of an excessive addiction to alcohol. He returned to Crimea, where his career went downhill smoothly. After Russia's occupation of the peninsula, Guiganov Sr. continued to work as a coach. As for Guiganov Junior, his career is also difficult to call stellar. Except that he travelled quite a bit - from Lithuania to Uzbekistan, via Russia, of course.

And 31-year-old defender Dmytro Matvienko is the brother-in-law of Shakhtar and Ukraine national team player Mykola Matvienko. The family lived in Saki, where both brothers were born. Before the occupation, Dmytro managed to play in Olympik and Tavria. Then he travelled to Transnistria and resurfaced in Crimea again - already with Russian citizenship.

The Russian club SKA-Rostov have told how they got into the area of the explosion on the Crimean bridge while returning from an illegal match from occupied Sevastopol.

- The bang was so loud that it made us shiver. Two hundred metres short of being hit by a missile or a drone. Our driver saw a flash and slowed down - and there was already a span collapsed. While we were standing and thinking how to pull from the collapse, a goods train with tanks passed by, and above it there was such a bang that our windscreen burst. It turned out to be a second drone or missile being shot down. Due to the dimensions of the bus, we could not turn around and had to reverse 15 kilometres," Russian propagandists quoted the club representative as saying.

The Ukrainian Football Association has sent an official letter to UEFA and FIFA asking them to respond to the illegal inclusion of clubs from Ukrainian Crimea, FC Sevastopol and FC Rubin Yalta, in the Russian championship.

The letter, in particular, states: "We have already addressed FIFA and UEFA several times regarding the attempts of the Russian football authorities to include Ukrainian clubs in the Russian domestic championships. We appeal to you again on this issue with a request to consider and take measures to eliminate another violation by Russia of all existing rules and regulations."

The UAF reminds that in its official letter No. 1423 dated 01.11.2022 to UEFA and FIFA, it has already reported on the latest illegal actions of the Russian terrorist state and the Russian Federation against the Ukrainian state and football, in particular attempts to integrate football clubs from the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine into the regular national championships of Russia.

"In our official letters No. 635 dated 01.07.2023 and No. 741 dated 22.06.2023, we drew your attention to information from open sources that FC Sevastopol and FC Rubin Yalta from the temporarily occupied Crimea received certificates to participate in the second league of Russia (third national division). Allowing such an action actually demonstrates disregard for the position and previous decisions of FIFA and UEFA (in 2014, UEFA granted Crimea a special status).

Despite numerous appeals by the UAF to FIFA and UEFA on this issue, on 16.07.2023, FC Sevastopol and FC Rubin Yalta played their first matches in the second Russian division. We regard such actions as a gross violation of the FIFA and UEFA statutes and the UEFA decision on the special status of Crimean football. In light of the above, the UAF reiterates its request to FIFA and UEFA to consider expelling the Russian Federation from FIFA and UEFA membership due to proven non-compliance with the requirements of the statutes of the governing bodies of the world and Europe and the values of the world football family," the UAF letter to UEFA and FIFA reads.

Nikita Sidorenko, a sports lawyer and junior specialist of the Ilya Skoropashkin law firm, has explained in detail what threatens Russian football due to the inclusion of Crimean clubs in its championship.

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As already reported, the next Sunday, 16 July, two Crimean clubs - Sevastopol and Rubin Yalta - should start in the second league of the Russian championship.

At the same time in another tournament of our eastern neighbours, the Cup of the country, in which all professional teams start, the Crimeans will not play. For ordinary people they will voice the reason: logistical difficulties, but even in Russia it is written that the RFU, organising the tournament, simply does not want to run into even greater international sanctions. All the "pluses" will go to the FNL.

As early as next Sunday, 16 July, FIFA should pay close attention to the Russian non-championship.

On the marshes on that day the second league matches of the FNL will start. B two games of Group 1 of the "division B" will flagrantly violate the statutes and decisions of international football bodies: on the occupied Ukrainian peninsula "Sevastopol" will host Rostov SKA, and "Rubin Yalta" will play away with the team "Biolog-Novokubansk".

Recall that in 2014 FIFA explicitly banned Crimean teams from playing anywhere other than the Ukrainian championship or the Crimean League specially created for the period of occupation.

While before Russia "did not violate football rules" and was penalised for "politics", in two days' time there will be a direct and cynical disregard for the decisions of FIFA and UEFA. Let's see what the reaction will be.....

The RFU's so-called secretary general Maxim Mitrofanov gave a more than evasive answer to a question regarding the inclusion of clubs from the still-occupied Crimea in the Russian championship.

- There are no resolutions on the Crimean clubs in particular. There is a certain position and letters - they did not concern the admission of the Football Federation, granting a special legal status to the Crimean Football Union, which is not under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Football Association - they have their own legal status.

This is a territory with a special football regime. Accordingly, we should not allow professional football clubs to participate in professional competitions. I repeat: this is the decision of the FNL. It's their competition. There is probably every reason for that," the official explained cloudily to the local media.

Fans of Zhytomyr's Polesye published on social networks an appeal to the Ukrainian football authorities to disqualify for life their former player Andriy Sakhnyevych, incidentally, a pupil of Dynamo Kiev.

"A 34-year-old Ukrainian from Zhytomyr, Andriy Sakhnevich, a former Polesye player, betrayed his homeland during the full-time war and left for Russia by signing a contract with a football club from the Perm region.

Today he continues to make money in the aggressor country without changing his citizenship or condemning the war, he supports the killing of Ukrainians and justifies the crimes of Putin and his army.

We call on the Ukrainian Football Association to ban this athlete from any football activities in Ukraine for life. And as for his return to Zhytomyr, only in the black package!"- the statement reads.

"Sevastopol" has received a certificate from the so-called FNL to participate in the second league in the "B" division of the Russian championship, local propagandists report.

They also say that Rubin (Yalta), TSK-Tavria (Simferopol) and Okean (Kerch), all from the Ukrainian peninsula occupied by the Russians, will soon join the league.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld UEFA's decision to suspend Russian football clubs from participating in competitions held under the auspices of the union.

This decision was taken by UEFA on 28 February 2022, after Russia started its military invasion of Ukraine. In May last year, four Russian Premier League clubs - CSKA, Dynamo, Zenit and Sochi - asked the court to overturn the UEFA decision as discriminatory. However, the court refused.

The reasoning of the court's decision, published on Friday, stated that UEFA had not breached the principle of political neutrality and its refusal to allow Russian clubs to participate cannot be considered discriminatory or disproportionate.

The Russian clubs pointed to the fact that some other sports associations - such as the Professional Tennis Association and the Women's Tennis Association - had not banned Russian athletes from taking part in their competitions. However, according to the court, football is a particular sport in which fans are particularly likely to overreact and allow incidents "based on racism, nationalism and religious intolerance". The court considered that allowing Russian football teams to compete could have a negative impact on the safety of athletes and spectators.

Shakhtar defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy spoke about helping the wounded soldier and commented on his performances in the Russian championship.

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