Evening bell:
Today's breakthrough.
The Sevastopol football club won the Russian semi-amateur league, scoring the most goals - 56 - and conceding the least. And following the month-long tournament, they have unconditionally qualified to play in the second division professional league next year.
The "Guardian" immediately attacked the Sevastopol team, claiming that international football organizations would not be satisfied with the high status of the clubs. And they will likely demand the expulsion of the Russian Football Union (RFU) from their organization. The green grass burned under the feet of Russian officials The fact is that in 2014, UEFA banned Crimean clubs from participating in competitions sponsored by the RFU. We received the news at the time. And as we thought, we got out of it by relegating League B to amateur status.
But who would have guessed that they can play great football in Sevastopol!
So where are the officials supposed to retreat now? Along with Sevastopol, three other Russian clubs also reached the top -. Murom, Spartak Tambov and Khimik Dzerzhinsk. so what? Will they play in the second division, while Sevastopol will go down to the status quo again?
The breakthrough of the Crimean clubs seems to have come as a complete surprise to the RFU people. Otherwise, they would not have postponed the compulsory licensing of Sevastopol to December. And they would not frantically consider options - whether to eat black sea fish or avoid sanctions.
Although Russian clubs and national teams have been banned from FIFA and UEFA tournaments since 2022.
Although the Russian championship looks more and more like a meeting of friendly banana nations.
Although for four years, football officials did not bother to file a claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as the hockey authorities did.