On 25 January semi-finals of the Commonwealth Champions Cup of the CIS and the Baltic States took place. Uzbek football team Pakhtakor won Lithuanian Kaunas - 3:1 and thus Uzbeks, current holders of the cup, qualified for the final. Pakhtakor's final game will be against young Azerbaijani football team Khazar-Lankoran. The match will be held on 27 January at 2 p.m. at Peterburgski SKK stadium.
The Commonwealth Cup has been originally established in 1993 to keep close relations among the football federations of the former Soviet Union. Today it has become a sort of a "fair of the talents". There are many examples of football players changing their clubs after the tournament. One has to point out though, that not every club sends its best players, and rather prefer to try out their reserve players. 15 federations usually gather in one place, a reason why the FIFA and the UEFA presidents are permanent guests at the tournament. The cup itself is conducted under the patronage of the FIFA.
The tournament has strong political underpinning too.
-Former Soviet republics of the Baltic region are the members of the European Union now. Some of the Russian parliamentarians have made a number of contradictory statements about the sovereignty of the Baltic states.
-Because there are 15 countries playing, there is usually one team invited to make the numbers even. The team remains out of the competition though. Starting from the 2007 such team is invited from abroad - now it is a Serbian football club, OFK of the Belgrade. Russia supports Serbia in Kosovo issue contradictory to the US and EU positions, and plans 15 bln investment in energy sector of Serbia.
-In 2006 Punic of Erevan, Armenia refused to play against Neftchi of Baku, Azerbaijan, and left Moscow, despite strong assurances of the organizers to provide security and safety for the Armenian team. Neighboring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan have a history of an armed conflict and relations remain tense between the countries forcing both to invest heavily in the military.
-In 1999 Uzbekistan officially refused to attend the tournament due to the new rules introduced. Some say though it were rather a reaction of the worsening Russo-Uzbek, or in particular Elzin-Karimov relations at the time. That year Uzbekistan indeed quited the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
-The tournament now takes place in Sankt-Petersburg, not Moscow as it was before.
Some like to call the tournament a sort of a "synchronizing of the watches" or a cup of the political correctness.
Anyway, I would like to wish a good luck to Pakhtakor in the final. Winning the cup in two consequent years would not be bad for their world ranking, I guess.
You may go here to see the photos from the Kaunas-Pakhtakor match.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
German journalist attacked in Kazakhstan
Marcus Bensmann, a German freelance journalist and a correspondent for Deutshe Welle, Spiegel and Tageszeitung was found unconscious and severely beaten in Astana, Kazakhstan, according to Fergana.Ru news agency.
He had numerous body injuries, broken nose and jaw and worse of all - frost-bitten due to the extremely low temperatures (-15 to -20 degrees Celsius; -4 Fahrenheit). This might even lead to the amputation of his fingers and toes, speculated Fergana.ru. All Bensmann's belongings were stolen. Kazakh Ministry Interior has started an investigation into the case and the initial assumption is robbery. Bensmann will be soon flown to Germany.
Marcus Bensmann is known for having worked in a number of hotspots including Iraq and Chechnya. 38-years-old journalist is a Central Asia expert for a number of German news agencies. He has reported from Uzbekistan during the Andijan events in 2005 and opposed Shirin Akiner's and Uzbek government's position on them.
We don't know what the motives were behind the assault on Marcus Bensmann, but it will be quite an embarassment for Kazakh government which is soon to lead the OSCE.
Update: German news agencies have reported that Marcus Bensmann was doing a research for his film about the economic boom in Astana, when he was attacked. Kazinform has reported that Bensmann has visited two nightclubs on a Saturday night and last what he remembers is leaving a taxi around 2:30 am. Department chief of criminal police Shanat Bintenov was quoted saying Bensmann was "a victim of a banal robbery".
Update 2: January 30, Kazakhstan Today has reported that three persons related to Bennsman's case were arrested and have already admitted their involvement in the case. One of them worked as a taxi-driver, the other was unemployed, and the third worked for a security firm. Traffic video surveillance helped identify the criminals.
He had numerous body injuries, broken nose and jaw and worse of all - frost-bitten due to the extremely low temperatures (-15 to -20 degrees Celsius; -4 Fahrenheit). This might even lead to the amputation of his fingers and toes, speculated Fergana.ru. All Bensmann's belongings were stolen. Kazakh Ministry Interior has started an investigation into the case and the initial assumption is robbery. Bensmann will be soon flown to Germany.
Marcus Bensmann is known for having worked in a number of hotspots including Iraq and Chechnya. 38-years-old journalist is a Central Asia expert for a number of German news agencies. He has reported from Uzbekistan during the Andijan events in 2005 and opposed Shirin Akiner's and Uzbek government's position on them.
We don't know what the motives were behind the assault on Marcus Bensmann, but it will be quite an embarassment for Kazakh government which is soon to lead the OSCE.
Update: German news agencies have reported that Marcus Bensmann was doing a research for his film about the economic boom in Astana, when he was attacked. Kazinform has reported that Bensmann has visited two nightclubs on a Saturday night and last what he remembers is leaving a taxi around 2:30 am. Department chief of criminal police Shanat Bintenov was quoted saying Bensmann was "a victim of a banal robbery".
Update 2: January 30, Kazakhstan Today has reported that three persons related to Bennsman's case were arrested and have already admitted their involvement in the case. One of them worked as a taxi-driver, the other was unemployed, and the third worked for a security firm. Traffic video surveillance helped identify the criminals.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Some facts: Tajik Immigrants in Russia
Russian news agency Regnum reports that there were 356 deaths of immigrants from Tajikistan reported in 2007. That makes two deaths less than in 2006.
69 Tajiks were murdered. The number grew by 27 deaths in contrast to the last year. 80 Tajiks died from accidents.
Just to compare: There were about 450 US casualties reported since the beginning of the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Safety is relative indeed.
69 Tajiks were murdered. The number grew by 27 deaths in contrast to the last year. 80 Tajiks died from accidents.
Just to compare: There were about 450 US casualties reported since the beginning of the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Safety is relative indeed.
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