Sevastopol’s promotion puts Uefa and Fifa under pressure over Crimean clubs in Russian leagues

On 5 November 2026, Uefa and Fifa confronted a political test after FC Sevastopol, a Crimean club, were declared champions of group one in Football National League (FNL) 2B last month and are believed to have applied for a licence to compete in FNL 2A.

The case raises a potential breach of Uefa rules that prohibit Crimean clubs from participating in competitions organised by the Russian Football Union (RFU), and would come as Uefa and Fifa face fresh calls to respond to Russia’s integration of teams from territory Kyiv and Western governments consider illegally occupied. The RFU remains a member of Uefa and Fifa, and the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) has urged both governing bodies to consider ejecting Russia, alleging a “gross violation” of their statutes and of Uefa’s 2014 ruling that Crimean clubs must not compete in RFU-run events.

Similar issues surfaced in 2023 when Sevastopol and Rubin Yalta were accepted into FNL 2B despite the 2014 prohibition; Uefa said it would assess the matter at the time. The RFU told authorities it had established a workaround by classifying FNL 2B as an amateur competition that it did not operate, while several clubs at that level told the Guardian informally that they were fully professional.

FNL 2B is described in effect as Russia’s fourth division, and a licence that allowed Sevastopol to advance to FNL 2A would move the club into a professional third tier. No such blurring of the lines exists for FNL 2A, which has never denied its clubs are professional, a distinction that underpins the current controversy.

Sevastopol’s chief executive Valery Chaly told local media last month: “Of course, we plan to submit documents,” and added: “According to the regulations we should advance to the next stage.” The club is believed to have applied for the licence required to compete at the higher level.

The situation is compounded by the admission in April 2024 of an imitation Zorya Luhansk into FNL 2B and this year’s inclusion of a fake Shakhtar Donetsk, with five of the 15 teams who completed the recent FNL 2B group one season playing in or claiming to represent occupied areas; the Simferopol-based Kyzyltash Bakhchisaray was among them.

Imitation Shakhtar finished runners-up in group one after securing the spot with a 2-0 victory at Sevastopol on the season’s final day last Saturday and are next in line for promotion. The club plays its home matches on Russian territory in Taganrog rather than in an occupied area, although it is registered to an address in Donetsk.

In October 2025 the UAF asked Uefa to review and explain the imitation clubs’ legal positions and those assessments remain awaited; the UAF warned of a“coordinated political attempt to legitimise the occupation and erase the identity of Ukrainian football”. Last month Russia competed in a Fifa-run event for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, finishing 19th in the new under-15 World Cup, and under-15 and under-16 teams have continued to take part in smaller Uefa development tournaments largely against invited opponents on home soil during the war in Ukraine.

It is understood no decision about Sevastopol’s potential admission to FNL 2A has been made, and none of Uefa, Fifa, the RFU, the FNL, Sevastopol or the imitation Shakhtar Donetsk offered comment when contacted by the Guardian.