Russian State Duma committee seeks government financial support for Kadyrov’s soccer club

Russia’s State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sport has supported a proposal to provide tax and financial assistance to FC Akhmat Grozny, the U.S.-sanctioned, professional soccer club linked to Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

According to the committee’s website, FC Akhmat Grozny lost the support of sponsorships from a number of companies after it was added to the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list in December 2020.

Committee Chairman Boris Paykin said that the Russian authorities need “to work out concrete solutions and measures of support, since the Akhmat club may not be the last sports organization to find itself in a difficult financial situation because of the United States.”

The Duma committee plans to appeal to the Russian Cabinet with a list of specific proposals aimed at supporting the soccer club.

In December, the United States imposed Magnitsky Act sanctions on a number of individuals and legal entities linked to Ramzan Kadyrov, including the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation (named after the former Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov’s father), the Chechen soccer club FC Akhmat Grozny, Absolute Championship Akhmat, the Akhmat MMA fight club, the company Chechen Mineral Waters.

The United States imposes sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on individuals and organizations considered responsible for involvement in human rights violations. Magnitsky Act sanctions were imposed on Ramzan Kadyrov in 2017. In July 2020, Kadyrov and his family were banned from travelling to the United States.