There is a nuance: Crimean clubs refused to play in the Russian Football Cup

Yalta's Rubin and Sevastopol will not take part in the new Russian Football Cup draw. At the same time, both teams from the temporarily occupied Crimea intend to start in the second division of the aggressor country's championship, which UEFA had previously opposed.

Rubin's president Kirill Shaposhnikov said in a comment to the club's press service that it would be inappropriate for his players to spend their energy on two tournaments at once.

"For us, participation in the Russian Cup is not an end in itself at this stage. Let's speak objectively - we are entering a tournament that is our main and priority. And our main task is to gain a foothold in it. It is difficult to enter the second tournament at once and in parallel with one team, especially for newcomers to such serious competitions. We want to move gradually," the official said.

For his part, Sevastopol CEO and traitor to Ukraine Valeriy Chaly, speaking to the club's website, also sees no point in participating in the cup tournament.

"We have ambitious goals in the Second League tournament. I can't say anything about the team's prospects of participating in the Russian Cup yet, but we are ready for any development. At this stage, it would be more appropriate for our team to focus on one tournament, due to logistical and financial issues," the head of the Crimean team stressed.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the Russian Football Union (RFU) said that Crimean teams would not participate in tournaments under the auspices of the organisation, but considered the second league of the national championship to be an independent organisation.

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