RUSSIA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Chechen leader scores against Brazil World Cup vets in football 'friendly'

Record ID: 1487428

  • Title: RUSSIA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Chechen leader scores against Brazil World Cup vets in football 'friendly'
  • Date: 9th March 2011
  • Summary: GROZNY, RUSSIA (MARCH 8, 2011) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** FAN HOLDING TEREK GROZNY SCARF FAN WITH WIG AND TEREK COLOURS POLICE ON SIDELINES POLICE CORRALLING A SPECTATOR BENEATH A PORTRAIT OF CHECHEN LEADER RAMZAN KADYROV 'TEAM GROZNY' AND BRAZILIAN PLAYERS ON FIELD BEFORE GAME FIREWORKS VARIOUS PLAYERS ON FIELD BRAZILIAN PLAYER MAKING A GOAL FANS C
  • Embargoed: 24th March 2011 16:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russian Federation
  • Topics: Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA2WXZLEXLNQLC4C98AUIDEHFJ8
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Despite two goals scored by Kremlin-installed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, former Brazil footballers beat a team composed by Kadyrov in a "friendly" match in Grozny on Tuesday (March 8) by 6-4.
    The match was an attempt to portray Chechnya as stable and safe from insurgent violence that plagues Russia's North Caucasus region.
    Kadyrov assembled a team of veterans from his Russian Premier League club Terek Grozny plus Bulgaria coach Lothar Matthaeus and his fellow former German international Oliver Khan, and new Terek manager and Dutch football legend Ruud Gullit.
    Hundreds of jubilant fans screamed "Ramzan!" and "Chechnya!" in their native Chechen language as Kadyrov, clad in a long-sleeved red shirt with the Terek emblem, ran onto the field sporting his iconic ginger beard.
    Kadyrov, who entertained the crowds by dancing the Caucasus "lezginka" at half-time, said he had lost 5-6 kg in order to play as captain for the whole game.
    Dunga, who coached the 2010 World Cup team, and fellow Brazilian Romario were presented with traditional Chechen bread before joining Bebeto, Rai, Cafu, Elber, Denilson, Andre Cruz, Ze Mario, Roque Junior, Djalminha and Zetti on the field. Former Brazil full back Roberto Carlos, who made his debut last week for Anzhi Makhachkala, a Russian Premier League club in neighbouring Dagestan, also played while pop singer Lara Fabian performed at a nearby concert.
    A decade after Russian troops drove separatists out of power in the second of two wars in Chechnya, an Islamist insurgency is bubbling in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus where rebels want to carve out a separate state with Sharia law.
    Though violence has quelled somewhat in Chechnya, other North Caucasus provinces such as Dagestan are plagued by shootings, suicide bombs and grenade attacks that claimed 1,000 lives last year.
    The Kremlin credits Kadyrov with keeping insurgents in check, but rights groups say he rules the region as a personal fiefdom and leads a violent crackdown on opponents, claims he has dismissed as attempts to blacken his name.
    "All of the press says that people are murdered in the Chechen republic, that you can't live here. that people are leaving this place. They say this especially in Europe that Kadyrov is bad, that Russia is bad, and that here, there's no normal life," the barrel-chested 34-year-old told reporters in Grozny following the historic game.
    Local leaders and fans are now looking upon soccer as a fresh way to pacify the region, which Kadyrov said he achieved on Tuesday with at least one game.
    "Today we, as they say, put on a show, tried really hard, and it succeeded," he said.
    Though Russia did not qualify for the 2010 World Cup, the country is passionate about soccer and won the right to host the world's biggest sporting event in 2018. Kadyrov has proposed adding Grozny to the list of 13 host cities for the 2018 edition but Russia is unlikely to bring any matches to the North Caucasus.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register