The KFS Premier-Liga (russian: Премьер-лига КФС) or simply Crimean Premier League is a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

organized by the Crimean Football Union (Krymsky Futbolny Soyuz) and devised by Russia after

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

refused to allow Crimean clubs to switch to the Russian leagues in the wake of the

2014 Russian annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv th ...

.A Crimean league? Football caught up in annexation struggle
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. 20 March 2015 For full list of Crimean champions, see

Republican Football Federation of Crimea Republican Football Federation of Crimea (RFFK) is a football governing body in the region of Crimea. History Until 1954, the Crimean championship was part of the Russian football community. There were also republican as well as oblast champions. ...

. Both Republican Football Federation of Crimea and Crimean Football Union exist in Crimea. Sponsored by the Russian Ministry of Sports, the legal status of Crimean Football Union is not recognized by the

Ukrainian Association of Football The Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) ( uk, Українська асоціяція футболу, Ukrayins'ka Asotsiyatsiya Futbolu) is the governing body of football in Ukraine. Before 2019 it was known as the Football Federation of Ukr ...

. The professional status of the league as it claims to be could not to be verified.

Status

The league was formed by UEFA delegation that is led by former president of the

Slovak Football Association The Slovak Football Association ( sk, Slovenský futbalový zväz, SFZ) is the governing body of football in Slovakia based in Bratislava. It has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Slovakia and is the bod ...

František Laurinec František Laurinec (born 19 August 1951, in Veľké Uherce) is a former president of Slovak Football Association (SFZ). Since 2009, he is a member of the UEFA Executive Committee. Biography He played football for Iskra Partizánske. Later he ...

. Five of eight teams have never participated at professional level and according to the official UEFA evaluation the region has a poor football infrastructure. According to Laurinec "UEFA wants to help save football in Crimea." 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. In 2016

Vyacheslav Koloskov Vyacheslav Ivanovich Koloskov (russian: Вячеслав Иванович Колосков, June 15, 1941, Moscow, USSR) is a Russian and Soviet sport functionary, vice-president of FIFA (1980–1996). Career He was a football player but without ...

expressed his opinion that UEFA is not considering to grant Crimea a membership. 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. There was an opinion that the Crimean football union can become an independent member of UEFA just like the

Gibraltar Football Association The Gibraltar Football Association or also Gibraltar FA (GFA) is the governing body for Gibraltarian football and futsal. It was formed as the ''Gibraltar Civilian Football Association'' in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It i ...

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

. 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. 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.

History

The first competitive match was a 2–2 draw between

SKChF Sevastopol SKCF Sevastopol (russian: Спортивный Клуб Черноморского Флота, uk, Спортивний Клуб Чорноморського Флоту) was a Soviet football team from Sevastopol, Russian SFSR, later Ukrainian ...

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. 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.Dubas, M.
Ukraine's soccer clubs perform in European competitions
'.

The Ukrainian Weekly ''The Ukrainian Weekly'' is the oldest English-language newspaper of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, and North America. Founded by the Ukrainian National Association, and published continuously since October 6, 1933, archived copies ...

. 13 November 2015 There also were intentions to invite former Russian international football player

Andrei Kanchelskis Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis ( uk, Андрій Антанасович Канчельскіс; russian: Андрей Антанасович Канчельскис; born 23 January 1969) is a professional football manager and former player. He ...

to coach one of the clubs in Crimea. While sanctioned by UEFA, the Crimean Premier League is not listed as a regular top-level league.European leagues and cups
UEFA website. 17 April 2016

Member clubs

Champions

References

External links