The Brazilian superstar soccer players invited to play in Chechnya next month will probably take special care to avoid any fouls as they go up against none other then Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, a former warlord.
Kadyrov plans to take to the pitch in Grozny on March 10 when, according to the sports ministry, Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winners — who include Ronaldo, Kaka and Ronaldinho — will fly into the heart of Russia’s troubled Caucasus for what may well turn out to be the strangest match of the century.
“Ramzan Kadyrov himself will be the team’s captain,” Chechen Sports Minister Khaidar Alkhanov said this week. “This will be a powerful stimulus for [the] players and a huge present for Chechen supporters.”
There has been no confirmation from the Brazilian side.
Kadyrov runs Chechnya as a personal fiefdom, ruling over everything from how women dress to personally leading special operations against the militant Islamist rebels that continue to carry out attacks throughout the republic. He has spent the past several years attempting to rebuild Chechnya, which was ravaged by two brutal wars following the fall of the Soviet Union.
The Kremlin has given Kadyrov free rein to run the republic as he wishes. In his latest attempt to bring a veneer of normality to Chechnya, Kadyrov this month hired twice world player of the year Ruud Gullit to coach Russian Premier League side Terek Grozny.
Alkhanov said a new stadium would be opened in May and FIFA boss Sepp Blatter and UEFA chief Michel Platini had been invited to attend. The stadium, like many sites in the republic, will be named after Kadyrov’s father, Akhmad, a former president who was killed in a bombing in 2004.
Russia hosts the 2018 World Cup and Kadyrov hopes Chechnya will stage at least one match, and that players from Terek make the Russia team.
Officials have declined to disclose whether the Brazilian side will be invited to view Kadyrov’s lavish home, personal zoo or collection of luxury cars. Kadyrov has yet to comment on whether he will leave one of his favorite possessions — a gold-plated gun — on the sidelines.
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