11:25, 1 April 2019

Chechen students complain about coercion to attend "Akhmat" FC match

Players of the local "Akhmat" and "Spartak" Football Clubs. Photo by the press service of the "Akhmat" FC, http://fc-akhmat.ru/news/

Students in Grozny told that they were forced to attend a football match of the local "Akhmat" Football Club (FC) versus "Spartak", which ended in favour of the Moscow team. Fans were unhappy with the play of local footballers.

Grozny students regularly report about coercion to go to watch football.

The "Akhmat"-"Spartak" match took place on March 30 at the "Akhmat Arena" Stadium able to house 30,000 spectators. The fans told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the game was played at half-empty stands.

"I was with guys at the match; we were forced to support our team, because there are few football fans among us; we're mostly fond of MMA (mixed martial arts), boxing and wrestling. But the attendance was mandatory; and they checked who came to the stadium," said Aslan, a student.

"Akhmat" fans stayed unsatisfied with the play quality of local players.

"They could have played better, especially since they were playing at home," said Islam, a local resident.

The club received the name of "Akhmat" only in 2017 – in honour of the first pro-Russian president of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, the father of the current head of Chechnya.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 31, 2019 at 03:17 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent