Luhansk People's Republic national football team

The Luhansk People's Republic football team (also spelled Lugansk)[1] is a team representing the people of the unrecognised Luhansk People's Republic, located in the Russian occupied Ukraine. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championships. Instead, they are part of CONIFA and compete in their competitions.[2][3]

Luhansk People's Republic
AssociationLuhansk Football Union (Луганский футбольный союз)
ConfederationConIFA
Head coachAnatoliy Kuksov
Home stadiumAvanhard Stadium (Luhansk)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Abkhazia 1–0 Luhansk PR 
(Sukhumi; 29 May 2015)
Biggest win
 Luhansk PR 3–1 Donetsk PR 
(Luhansk; 19 September 2015)
Biggest defeat
 Donetsk PR 4–1 Luhansk PR 
(Donetsk; 14 May 2015)
CONIFA European Football Cup
Appearances0

History
Unrecognised Luhansk People's Republic (teal, northeast) and its neighbour, the Donetsk People's Republic (light blue, southwest); de facto independent after War in Donbass (2014 to present) with the insurgency of Russian troops.

The Luhansk Football Union was founded on October 4, 2014. Zorya Luhansk legend Anatoliy Kuksov coaches the team. Luhansk PR also took part in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup qualification but failed to make it through to the finals. Sascha Düerkop, general secretary of CONIFA, stated that he did not agree with the Luhansk PR politically — comparing them negatively with the Chagossians — but that "that was not the point" and they were allowed to compete.[4] CONIFA were criticised for supporting "Russia-backed separatism."[5][6] Luhansk PR were scheduled to take part in the 2019 CONIFA European Football Cup but later withdrew.[7][8]

References
  1. "Karabakh hosting most prestigious of unrecognised sporting events".
  2. "Luhansk People's Republic".
  3. "Sámi footballers go to disputed conflict area to play ball with Ukrainian separatists". The Independent Barents Observer.
  4. Hendicott, James. "CONIFA: Football for the Forgotten". Lulu.com – via Google Books.
  5. https://www.stopfake.org/en/conifa-alternative-world-cup-boosts-russia-backed-separatism/
  6. "CONIFA alternative World Cup boosts Russia-backed separatism". www.unian.info.
  7. "Conifa – a Place for the Misplaced | SportsNewsIRELAND". Archived from the original on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  8. "Match schedule: CONIFA Sportsbet.io European Football Cup 2019".
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