The Luhansk People's Republic football team (or Lugansk)[1] was a team representing the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), a disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine.[a] The team was not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA and therefore could not compete for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. The LPR team had been a member of CONIFA, although it later withdrew.[2]

History

The Luhansk Football Union was founded on October 4, 2014. FC Zorya Luhansk alumnus Anatoliy Kuksov coached the team prior to his death in January 2022. The LPR team 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 LPR team politically — comparing them negatively with the Chagossians — but that "that was not the point" and they were allowed to compete.[3] CONIFA were criticised for supporting "Russia-backed separatism."[4][5] The LPR team was scheduled to take part in the 2019 CONIFA European Football Cup but later withdrew.[6][7] After the Russian annexation of the LPR the team ceased to exist.

International results

Error: Value is not a valid month (help) Friendly Abkhazia  1–0  Luhansk People's Republic Republican Stadium, Sukhumi
Error: Value is not a valid month (help) Friendly Donetsk People's Republic  1–1  Luhansk People's Republic Metalurh Stadium, Yenakiieve
Error: Value is not a valid month (help) Friendly South Ossetia  2–0  Luhansk People's Republic Guram Tskhovrebov Stadium, Tskhinvali

  Win   Draw   Loss

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) was established by Russian-backed separatists in the Luhansk Oblast of eastern Ukraine in 2014, during the war in Donbas. The disputed entity was annexed by Russia in 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia regards the LPR as a Russian republic, a claim that is unrecognised by Ukraine and by most of the international community.

References

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