Russia set to deport Nigerians, others

firstclassnewsline.net

Firstclass newsline gathered that some aspiring Nigerian footballers
and indeed basketballers may soon find the Russian League a very tough
one to join as the Russians move to restrict the inflow of foreigners
and indeed force out those already there. The aim, they have explained
is to strengthen their national team and their football system ahead
of the 2018 World Cup which they are billed to host.
The Russian government is set to bring in tough restrictions on the
number of foreign players in the country's top soccer league in order
to develop home-grown players for the 2018 Mundial.
With his ministry poised to gain new powers to limit the number of
foreigners in the Russian Premier League, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko
says he will "cut back on foreign players in a very tough way," in
comments on Tuesday reported by Russian agency R-Sport.
His comments followed a bill allowing the sports ministry to limit
foreign players in team sports passed the first of three readings in
the lower house of parliament last week.
Under the current dispensation, Russian league rules allow clubs to
field up to seven foreigners at any time. But Mutko is not comfortable
with such setting and has said that the foreigners are crowding out
Russian talent and limiting local players' game time.
He said on Wednesday, "I liked to watch football teams when they had
the players that they'd produced. In football, we've got just four
Russians on the teamsheet for the match and there are 16 teams in the
league. Well, count how many Russians are playing. We have serious
work to do in this area."
While the proposed law also covers other sports such as hockey and
basketball, the discussion around it has focused almost entirely on
soccer, especially following the Russian team's exit in the group
stage of last year's World Cup.
The idea of a state-imposed limit on foreign players was first
proposed a year ago by President Vladimir Putin, shortly after the
Russian hockey team disappointed fans by crashing out of its home
Olympics in the quarterfinals.
Another report states that Russia is also examining the possibility of
naturalising some foreign players who ply their trade in the Russian
Premier League. The main candidate appears to be Ari, a 29-year-old
Brazilian forward for FC Krasnodar who became eligible for Russian
citizenship after marrying his Russian wife in December.
The Russian football league has been a good starting ground for many
Nigerian players with Osaze Odemwingie and Emmanuel Emenike being some
of those who made their names there before moving on. Super Eagles
winger Ahmed Musa currently stars for CSKA Moscow.
In basketball, Olumide Oyedeji started from Russia before he made it
to Germany and eventually the American NBA. Another basketball star,
Mctaben Amachree started from Russia before she made the journey to
western Europe and the USA.
Firstclassnewsline.net