Filenews 8 June 2022 - by Fanis Makridis
A Moscow-based football club that is reportedly being politically persecuted in Russia appears to be considering moving to Cyprus. Even if this venture seems if not difficult then improbable.
The issue was highlighted last week by the well-known Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor-in-chief is Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2021) Dmitry Muratov. In fact, the relevant news has been republished in several electronic media in Russia.
The football team in question was called Krasava and played in a group of the third division of the Russian Federation. In fact, according to an interview given by its president, Yevgeny Savin, to the well-known Russian newspaper, the club is being persecuted due to the fact that he himself expressed his opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
From that moment on, according to Savin, his team can no longer compete, since no one grants them a stadium to use for home games. The president of Krasava, in fact, appears to be stating that his team will probably "move" to Cyprus. In essence, it speaks of a move aimed at the survival of the newly founded club.
Moreover, according to an article on the website sports.ru last Saturday (04/06), Savin is reportedly in negotiations, so that through a company he can acquire the football department of a second division club of Cyprus and if this is done, the football company "Krasava" will be named.
In his interview, Savin, who was a former footballer (he played for well-known Russian clubs), a tv presenter, while he is a popular "blogger", spoke to Novaya Gazeta about the reasons he believes that he and by extension the club he founded is being persecuted.
In his interview, after first mentioning that it is very important for him to keep his club alive, he added: "I fully understand that in Russia I can't find a single football stadium to complete the league. After the ukraine issue, we were expelled from Krasnogorsk (Moscow region where the group is based). We were tacitly excluded from fighting throughout the territory of Moscow."
Speaking about his departure from Russia at the end of May, he said he would not return to the country with his family until "something or someone changes in the Kremlin."
Last April, on the channel maintained by "Krasava" on a well-known platform of visual material (Youtube), he published a video with Ukrainian footballers who talked about Russia's special operation in Ukraine. The campaign was launched by West Ham striker Andrei Yarmolenko, Everton defender Vitali Mikolenko, former Dinamo Moscow coach Andrei Voronin, and former Lokomotiv Moscow footballer Alexander Aliyev.
After the video was made public, the management of the Zorkiy stadium in Krasnogorsk, terminated the agreement it had with the club to use it as a headquarters.
Ignorance expressed by the Cyprus Football Association
"F" contacted the general manager of the Cyprus Football Federation, Anthoulis Mylonas. The latter expressed ignorance of what is reported in the Russian media, while asked to comment on Krasava's stated intention, he expressed very serious doubts as to whether a Russian club can immediately be transferred to a league controlled by the CFA. He referred, among other things, to the restrictions on the use of foreign players (two foreigners in the second division). Finally, he explained that the CFA consists of member clubs. He added that it is possible, however, for a club to transfer the management of the football department to a company.
