Russian sanctions on Turkey will also affect football

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has recommended that Russian clubs not travel to Turkey for training camps and has banned them from signing players from there.

The shooting down of a Russian fighter jet engaged in combat in Syria against radical Islamists and the subsequent economic sanctions against Turkey will also impact football — specifically Russian clubs. The Ministry of Sport has recommended that they avoid the traditional winter training camps in the country of the crescent moon and even plans to ban them from signing footballers from Turkey. “If anyone wants to sign a Turkish player during the upcoming winter transfer period, they will not have such an opportunity,” said Minister Vitaly Mutko to R-Sport. Mutko is also president of the Russian Football Union and has already informed all domestic clubs about the new rules.

Russia works differently
According to the Ministry of Sport, the new rules should not affect existing contracts with Turkish footballers playing in Russia, such as Rubin Kazan’s Gökdeniz Karadeniz, nor Turkish companies working on the construction of infrastructure and football stadiums for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. “They will not operate here in the future, but at this moment they have signed contracts, and these will not be interfered with,” said Mutko.

We sought the opinion of our sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos, who represents, for example, goalkeeper Ján Mucha, who played last season for Russian clubs Arsenal Tula and Krylia Sovetov Samara. “The recommendation not to travel to Turkey for training can be understood. But the absence of Russian tourists will hurt holiday destinations more than that of football clubs,” said Tokos. He considers the ban on signing Turkish players more controversial, as he believes state authorities should not interfere in the operations of clubs or football federations. “FIFA is sensitive to such interference. But many things in Russia work differently than in Western Europe,” said Tokos. As an example, he points out that Vitaly Mutko is both the Minister of Sport and the head of the football federation, and most clubs — led by Zenit St. Petersburg — are directly connected to more or less state-owned industrial companies.

Senica team cancels Turkey
Thanks to its good infrastructure and climate, Turkey is a popular winter training destination for dozens of European clubs, including Slovak ones. We checked whether the political conflict between Russia and Turkey has affected our teams’ plans. “We were supposed to go to a training camp in Antalya, but for safety reasons we eventually cancelled it. We decided this in agreement between the players and club management,” FK Senica sports director Dušan Vrťo told the Economic Daily. They opted instead for preparation at home, although it cannot fully replace training in warm weather. “But sport is one thing. There are more important things in the world. In this case, the safety of the team came first,” said Vrťo.

Another top-division team, Spartak Trnava, is still undecided. “We have it booked, but we’ll see how the situation develops. Of course, we are watching what’s happening around Turkey. But I don’t think we should cancel the camp,” said Spartak’s general manager Pavol Blažek. Slovakia’s most famous club, Slovan Bratislava, is not planning to change its plans and intends to travel to Turkey for two ten-day training camps — in mid-January and early February. “There may be no Russian clubs there, but almost the whole of Europe goes, so there will be no shortage of opponents. We are not worried about safety,” said Slovan vice-president Petr Kašpar.