Football team in disputed Nagorno Karabakh has no one to play against

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(17 May 2018) With the 2018 FIFA World Cup less than a month away, there is a budding national team in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with no one to play against. • The ethnic Armenian team in the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh has the shirts and the boots, and even practices five days each week on an artificial field a short distance from the centre of Stepanakert, the territory's capital. • But that's about as far as the team goes. • UEFA doesn't let us participate anywhere, said Artsakh defender Aram Kostandyan, who wishes he could inspire the younger generation of players and show them why they are playing football. • The reason for the lack of opponents has nothing to do with sports and everything to do with politics. • The Nagorno-Karabakh region, as it's known by its Soviet name, is considered part of neighbouring Azerbaijan by the international community, located just north of Iran in the South Caucasus region. • But since a six-year separatist war ended in 1994, it has been controlled by the local ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia. • Living in a state of frozen conflict, the de facto Republic of Artsakh - in reference to the name of the region before Soviet times - is unrecognised by international institutions and the people of the region are prohibited from taking part in most international activities under their national flag. • UEFA and FIFA have a general policy of not allowing teams into competition if they don't represent an internationally recognised country or territory. • That policy was weakened when Gibraltar and Kosovo joined FIFA in 2016 despite being only partially recognised. • The Artsakh national team has made several unsuccessful requests for UEFA membership, the last time in 2017. • Compounding political sensitivities is an Azeri team playing under the name of Qarabag which made it to the Champions League this year. • The team was previously based in Agdam, a town in occupied territory adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh that was entirely destroyed during the 1988-94 war. • Today, they are based in Baku, supported financially by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's government and with a fan base of refugees and their descendants. • They represent one country, we represent another, says Artsakh coach Slavik Gabrielvan. We see them using this name as a political statement. • The reality of life playing football in Nagorno-Karabakh is vastly different from the splendor of the Champions League. • A mud road leads to the entrance of the Stepanakert Republican Stadium and an old Lada car is parked on the track circling the field. • Metal scraps rust away on the edge of the stands, and a youth team is practicing at the other end. • All the players are professionals, but with a salary of about 120 US dollars per month, most cannot survive solely on football. • Midfielder Arsen Sargyan played in the Armenian league for more than seven years, but has now returned to Stepanakert. • Besides playing the sport, Sargyan also has a small business, helps out on the farms, and generally does every job I can get my hands on. • Despite the hardship, the team says it is united and holds on to the hope that one day it will be able to make the locals proud. • The few tournaments they can partake in involve other unrecognised states, or the pan-Armenian games which take place every four years. • In 2015, they won that tournament by beating a team of Russians living in Armenia. • The Karabakh spirit is very high, Sargsyan said with a smile as he spoke about a future where the Artsakh team can play under our country's flag. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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