A member of the People's Militia of Crimea stands guard during a soccer match in Simferopol, Crimea, in this March 14, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Files
SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin may have annexed Crimea in one fell swoop, seizing control of government and economy; but the president's power apparently stops at the gates of Crimean football stadiums caught now in a twilight world between Russia and Ukraine.
After the 2014 annexation, declared illegal by Kiev and the West, clubs from the peninsula could no longer compete in the Ukrainian league. Three played several months in Russia's 2nd Division, but in December the European body UEFA banned them from Russian competition.
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