Grozny residents claim being obliged to attend football match on holiday

In Grozny, leaders of public sector enterprises ordered their subordinates to attend a football match between the "Akhmat" and "Spartak" FCs on the first day of Eid al-Adha, public sector employees complained. The practice to oblige people to attend sports events is usual for Chechnya only, note sports journalists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 11, at the "Akhmat-Arena" in Grozny, players of the "Akhmat" FC lost to the Moscow "Spartak" with the score of 3-1 in the fifth round match of the Russian Premier League.

In Grozny, leaders of an automobile enterprise warned their employees in advance about the need to attend the football match between the "Akhmat" and "Spartak" FCs, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed today by Musa, an employee of the above enterprise. "Yesterday was the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, I was busy until the evening, and then I had to go to the football match. We were obliged to attend it," said Musa.

Mansur, an employee of a public sector institution, reported that he and his colleagues also had to attend the football match. "As usual, we were obliged to attend the match of the 'Akhmat'. Even the fact that yesterday was the first day of the Muslim holiday [Eid al-Adha] did not free us from that obligation," Mansur told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Attracting public sector employees and students as fans is practiced in Chechnya only, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Alexei Durnovo, a sports observer of the "Ekho Moskvy" Radio Station. "Apart from Chechnya, I don't know other such cases in Russia," said Alexei Durnovo.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 12, 2019 at 03:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.