In a statement reported by DEA News, Odes Baysultanov, the Deputy Minister of Sports of Russia, outlined plans to form a single football championship that would bring together clubs from Crimea, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The plan signals a shift toward consolidating regional football activity under a dedicated organizational framework rather than within the existing national federation structure.
Speaking about the framework, Baysultanov emphasized leveraging the Crimea Football Union’s successful experiences in organizing league play, as well as its proven approach in coordinating matches for the National Student Football League. The vision is to establish a unified championship built on that existing organizational model, providing a stable platform for competition across the newly proposed regions. The objective is to create an entity capable of coordinating fixtures, logistics, and governance for the entire league, ensuring consistency and a clear pathway for clubs to compete at a higher level.
Under this proposed design, participation would not be limited to local clubs from Crimea and neighboring territories. The plan would also extend to clubs from Abkhazia, Kherson, Zaporozhye, South Ossetia, and university teams from Russia, expanding the field of participants and the geographic footprint of the competition. Importantly, the tournament would be established outside the auspices of the Russian Football Union (RFU), with its own independent organizational structure intended to oversee governance, scheduling, and disciplinary procedures.
Currently, teams based in Crimea and Sevastopol participate in the Crimean Premier League, which has been the primary regional competition in the region. A similar question has arisen in Abkhazia, where representatives of a local club were considered for entry into the RFU’s Second Division for the subsequent season. The broader question centers on how regional leagues might integrate with or diverge from established national structures, and what that means for the long-term development of football in these areas.
Earlier, on May 2, UEFA announced the suspension of Russia from the League of Nations and barred Russian clubs from European competitions for the 2022/23 season. This decision has had lasting implications for how Russian football is perceived and organized at the continental level, and it underscores the ongoing debate about potential pathways for regional football within or adjacent to the broader European system.
Alexander Alaev, who formerly served as Deputy Chairman of the Russian Premier League, commented on the prospects for Crimean clubs joining RFU-sanctioned competition in the future. His remarks reflect a spectrum of opinions about integration with established national structures versus continuing with independent regional leagues that operate under their own governance.