Ukrainian FA goes cold on CIS league proposal

anatolij konkov

February 22 – The prospects for the return of a CIS regional league look more remote after the Ukranian FA distanced itself from the Russian club proposal.

The president of the Ukrainian Football Federation, Anatolij Konkov, said that his opposition to creating a CIS countries club championship with the participation of Ukranian clubs, had not changed.

He explains his position by saying that FIFA and UEFA are against this project.

In an interview on the Russian TV channel Rossija 2, he said: “I can’t support this idea for few reasons. But the main reason is that FIFA and UEFA are against this idea.

“In the countries which have (Europe’s) leading league championships – Germany, Italy and England – they say, that such a union does not benefit football. Our position has not changed and we will comply with FIFA and UEFA laws.”

Last week club representatives met to discuss a cross-border Russian-Ukrainian league. A meeting attended by 14 Russian clubs, but with only one club from the Ukraine turning up.

The organisers of the ‘Unified Football Championship’ face significant challenges in getting their project off the ground. CSKA Moscow president Evgeny Giner, one of the key supporters movers of the proposal, said:

“We invited them (the Ukrainian clubs). If our Ukrainian colleagues think it necessary to come, then we’ll be delighted to sit at the negotiation table with them. Or it’s really not difficult for us, for example, to come to Kiev and meet with them.”

“We are absolutely equal partners and there’s absolutely no arrogance here.”

Tavria Simferopol were the only club from Ukraine that attended the meeting. The Ukrainian Football Federation (FFU) had issued an official statement saying they had received no “official reports, queries, letters, invitations, etc. from the organizers of the so-called “Unified championship.”

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