Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Eskender Bariiev in an interview with Crimea.Realities commented on the fact that the Russian authorities include Crimean athletes in national teams to participate in international competitions.
“Every person wants to realize oneself in life and get the result of many years of hard work. This also applies to athletes. In my opinion, this problem should be considered from all sides. Ukraine should track talented athletes from the occupied Crimea, provide all the conditions for their growth, invite them to training camps, assist in enhanced training, and so on, so that they understand that they can achieve results under the flag of Ukraine. I am sure that if a talented athlete and his coach know that it is easier to achieve results with the help of Ukraine, they will participate for Ukraine. Ukraine must carry out systematic work and promptly inform the Olympic Committee, UEFA, FIFA, world federations about such athletes that they are residents of the occupied territory, which is under sanctions. Yes, this is a difficult process, but there are results in the example of football”,- he said.
Eskender Bariiev believes that Ukraine should conduct timely work with countries where official international sporting events are planned, and these are issues related to issuing visas and visiting countries.
“Yes, athletes can be issued a passport with a residence permit from other regions of Russia, or not all countries can respond, well, this is the work of all state bodies of Ukraine that are in charge of this issue. There is another important factor – the acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship by young athletes from the occupied Crimea. And this is not only their motivation, but also the procedure when young men and women, in order to obtain a Ukrainian passport, need to provide three witnesses – citizens of Ukraine, which becomes more and more difficult every year”,- the expert explained.
The Head of the Board of the CTRC noted that Russia would actively inject resources, create conditions for the participation of Crimeans in international tournaments under the Russian flag, thus, more and more attract Crimeans to its side and demonstrate to the whole world the support of Russia by Crimeans.
Expert of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Serhii Parkhomenko believes that the Kremlin, through Crimean athletes, is promoting the thesis of Russian Crimea in the world sports community.
“Russia uses the Crimeans in sports for two purposes: to legitimize the occupation and for the purpose of propaganda. The real development of sports in Crimea is of little interest to Russia. Russia uses sports as an element of hybrid warfare, and athletes from Crimea willy-nilly become soldiers in this war. The Kremlin wants at least the world sports community to get used to the thesis that “Crimea is ours.” The more victories of the Crimeans under the flag of the Russian Federation, the more actively Russia will shout about these victories in its media”,- he explained.
The expert stressed that the Kremlin wants to show the world that only in the Russian Federation do Crimean athletes have the maximum opportunity for self-realization. In addition, the occupants are afraid that athletes from Crimea may refuse to compete for Russia and move to the mainland, to the territories controlled by Kyiv and compete for Ukraine. Therefore, the Russians have to pull the inhabitants of the Crimea into various national teams in order to show how the sport flourishes in the Crimea under Russia.