WORLD

Chechen Team Terek Grozny Wins Football Cup Final

By Kevin O'Flynn

Staff Writer

MOSCOW - There can have been few sports occasions in Moscow as dramatic, politically charged or surreal as Saturday's Russian Cup soccer final.

Chechen club Terek Grozny joined the likes of Newcastle, Millwall and Monaco in Europe club competition after a last-minute goal snatched a stunning 1-0 victory over Krylia Sovietov Samara.

More than just a sports upset - the first division club beating the premier league side - Terek's win was also a political event, featuring the tears of a son for a slain father and Chechens dancing and cheering on the streets of Moscow.

Twenty days after a bomb explosion killed Akhmad Kadyrov, the president of Chechnya and also of Terek Grozny, during Victory Day commemorations at Dynamo stadium in Grozny, a 90th-minute goal from Terek's top scorer Andrei Fedkov gave his side an unlikely win.

"This is for the late president," said Terek coach Vait Talgaev after the game. "He did everything for the club."

Terek's win was an amazing result for a team that did not exist four years ago - and a huge propaganda coup for the Kremlin, which has masterminded the return of the club as part of its attempts to restore normality to Chechnya.

About 17,000 fans watched the match at Lokomotiv stadium, with more than 1,000 Chechen fans chanting and cheering their side on.

Many of Terek's supporters had traveled about 1,500 kilometers from Chechnya, passing through numerous military and police checkpoints and running the gauntlet of antagonistic Moscow authorities and the public.

As well as ordinary fans, watching from the most expensive seat in the ground was Ramzan Kadyrov, the 27-year-old son of the assassinated president, vice president of the club and first deputy prime minister of the republic.

Sitting nearby were Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov and controversial Moscow businessman Umar Dzhabrailov, the current Chechen representative in the Federation Council. All three are powerful players in Chechnya.

Before the match, a minute's silence was held for Kadyrov, then the Russian national anthem blared out. Chechens, with a few exceptions, and Russians stood up throughout. A huge poster of the late Chechen leader, with the words, "We Remember You," was spread over the seats in one section of the stadium.

Another poster said simply, "Death to Chechen Terrorism," but it was unclear if it was a message from Krylia Sovietov fans or loyal Chechen government supporters from Terek.

The game itself was not one that will be remembered as a classic. Krylia Sovietov was the better team for most of the game, only for Terek to snatch the winner in the 90th minute.

Terek players and trainers mobbed Fedkov, and Chechen fans roared their delight. Two minutes of injury time later, the final whistle was blown and Terek were Russian Cup winners, the first team outside the top league to win the trophy in history and only the second national cup winners from outside the top flight since 1968 when Ukrainian side Karpaty Lviv won the Soviet Cup.

The victory sparked enormous celebrations, with guns reportedly fired into the air in Grozny, in much the same way that automatic rifles were fired in the city's stadiums in the early 1990s.

Chaotic scenes followed the end of the match, with the thickset Ramzan Kadyrov running onto the pitch surrounded by bodyguards, cameras and journalists. Ramzan, whose security force has been accused of torture and murder in the republic, was lifted up and thrown into the air by the Terek players.

Before the trophy was handed to the team, Terek supporters dragged a huge banner showing a picture of Akhmad Kadyrov from the stand and spread it in front of the podium where the ceremony was taking place - seemingly to the annoyance of Russian Football Union chief Vyacheslav Koloskov.

Ramzan stopped celebrating on seeing his father's face spread out on the ground before him, and broke down in tears. Chechen Sports Minister Khaidar Alkhanov and a number of others also began crying.

As Ramzan pulled off his cap to hide his face and wipe his eyes, Dzhabrailov pulled out some tissues and handed them to him.

Meanwhile, the Terek officials who were holding up the picture of Kadyrov had to push people away as they stepped on the picture.

Outside the stadium, about 100 young Chechen men gathered in a circle as one fan beat out a Chechen folk song on a big drum. Inside the circle, a young boy wearing a Caucasus-style mountain hat danced enthusiastically as the crowd cheered and roared him on.

To one side, a group of policeman stood watching, slightly bemused but not interfering.

The return of Terek Grozny, resurrected by Kadyrov in 2001, has been seen by many as a propaganda move backed by the Kremlin.

The team were used in the PR campaign for the Chechen presidential elections last year, Russian media reported, and the Chechen rebel web site kavkazcenter.com condemned the team as "Kremlin Terek" in an article last year. Yet the team appears to enjoy broad support among Chechens, even from those opposed to the Moscow-backed government.

Terek's journey into Europe will begin this fall, although it remains undecided where the team will play its home games.

The team currently plays in Pyatigorsk, but will likely move to play at the stadium of premier league side Alania Vladikavkaz.

Although a return to Grozny is not ruled out, it looks extremely unlikely that visiting European sides would agree to play in war-torn Chechnya.

Asked after the game if the team would play its UEFA Cup games in Grozny, the head of the federal sports agency, Vyacheslav Fetisov said, "That's what we are going to discuss."

Talgaev said that Putin had promised that the Dynamo stadium in Grozny would be rebuilt when he flew into Chechnya the day after Kadyrov was killed. Terek hopes to play against a Chechen representative team on August 23, the birthday of the late Chechen leader.

Realistically, the chances of Terek attempting to play UEFA Cup games in Grozny are nil. Scottish side Rangers had their game against Anzhi Makhachkala in Dagestan moved because of safety fears and UEFA, European soccer's governing body, would hardly allow any team to go to Chechnya.

More stories by this section:

IN BRIEF

Or take part in the discussion below.