Last week UEFA announced it was "banning clubs in the annexed Crimea region of Ukraine" from playing in any Russian-organized football competitions, according to Paul Nicholson of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. This week the Russians have announced an $83M aid package to "rebuild Crimean sports infrastructure." Russian Sports Ministry Investment Development & State Property Management Department Dir Alexander Roslyakov said that the money "has been allocated" from a new Russian federal program budget of $1.4B. The new funding program, titled the "Development of Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation in 2016-2020," is a national program and "indicates the extent that Crimea has quickly been assimilated into the Russian political and funding structures." Roslyakov said, "Slightly more than 45 billion rubles ($830.5M) will be allocated for facilities of big-time sports, and 8 billion rubles ($147.7M) for mass sports facilities. Some 4.5 billion rubles ($83M) is due to be allocated for restoration of Crimea's sports infrastructure" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 12/12).
