FC Rubin Kazan is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the second-tier Russian First League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–22 season, winning the Russian Premier League championship in 2008 and 2009. The club also won the 2011–12 Russian Cup. The team plays in the Ak Bars Arena. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Club Association suspended the team.
Association football is the most popular sport in Russia, since beating ice hockey by a huge margin. Men's football is overseen by the Russian Football Union, having the Russian Premier League as the first tier of the Russian football league system, with the Russian Football National League being the second tier.
FC Spartak Moscow is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships and a record 10 Russian championships, it is the country's most successful club. They have also won a record 10 Soviet Cups, 4 Russian Cups and one Russian Super Cup. Spartak have also reached the semi-finals of all three European club competitions.
The Russia national rugby league team represent Russia in international rugby league tournaments and other rugby league fixtures. The Bears, played their first fixtures against two British club sides: York Wasps and Fulham RLFC. In 2013, Russia became a full member of the Rugby League International Federation.
The Russian Premier League, also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 as the Russian Football Premier League and was rebranded with its current name in 2018. From 1992 through 2001, the top level of the Russian football league system was the Russian Football Championship.
The European Volleyball Confederation is the continental governing body for the sports of indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, and snow volleyball in Europe. Its headquarters is located in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of national university sports organizations and currently has 174 member associations from five continents. Between 1949 and 2011, it was based in Brussels (Belgium); since 2011, it is based in Lausanne (Switzerland).
Rugby union in Russia is a moderately popular sport. Russia was in 2011 ranked 20th worldwide by the World Rugby, having over three hundred clubs and close to 22,000 players nationally. Russian Rugby Championship is the top-level professional competition held in Russia. Krasnoyarsk, in the middle of Siberia, is traditionally the heartland of Russian rugby.
Sergei Bogdanovich Semak is a Russian football manager and a former international midfielder who currently manages Russian Premier League side FC Zenit.
BC UNICS is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kazan Arrows, sometimes called Strela Kazan, are a rugby league and rugby union club from Kazan, Tatarstan in Russia. They were formed in 1989 and play in the Russian Championship, the top-tier of rugby league in Russia. Since late 2009 they have decided to run their senior team as a rugby union team
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in Great Britain. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the remarkable extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.
Russian Rugby League Federation was the governing body for rugby league in Russia until 2010. It was founded in 1978 mainly as a governing body for Moscow based teams, and became the head body for all of Russia in 1986. The Russian Rugby League Federation became affiliated to the Rugby League International Federation in 1993. In 2003 the Russia became a full test nation in rugby league.
The most popular sportin Russia is soccer. According to Yandex search analysis results rating of the most popular sports among Russians: "Football topped the list of the most popular sports in Russia" with 5 to 10 million requests. Ice Hockey came in second with handball, basketball, futsal, boxing, auto racing, volleyball, athletics, tennis and chess rounding out the top ten rankings. Other popular sports include bandy, biathlon, figure skating, weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, rugby union, and skiing.
Rugby union in the Soviet Union was a moderately popular sport. It was most popular in the Georgian SSR; parts of the Russian SFSR such as Moscow and certain regions in Siberia like Krasnoyarsk; and Alma-Ata, the capital of the Kazakh SSR. Rugby enjoyed a more limited popularity in the Ukrainian SSR, Minsk in the Byelorussian SSR and parts of the RSFSR such as Leningrad and areas in Southern Russia, including Krasnodar. Rugby gained a significant following due to the vast size of the Soviet Union, but was never a major sport; despite many attempts to develop the sport, which Soviet citizens came to nickname the "leather melon" due to the shape of the ball. Still, an early championship in 1960 gives an idea of the sheer scale of Soviet rugby: one hundred teams from over thirty cities took part.
Aquathlon is an underwater sport, where two competitors wearing masks and fins wrestle underwater in an attempt to remove a ribbon from each other's ankle band in order to win the bout. The "combat" takes place in a 5-metre (16 ft) square ring within a swimming pool, and is made up of three 30-second rounds, with a fourth round played in the event of a tie. The sport originated during the 1980s in the former USSR and was first played at international level in 1993. It was recognised by the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS) in 2008. Combat aquathlon practice training engagements not only under water, but also afloat, above the water surface, both with or without diving gear, utilizing dummy weapons or barehanded, combined with grappling and choking techniques in order to neutralize or submit the opponent.
Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby. However, it is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby.
The Association of Rugby League Clubs is the governing body for rugby league in Russia. The association was formed in 2010, bringing together amateur clubs and regional RRLF clubs after the expulsion of the Russian Rugby League Federation and essentially rugby league itself by the Order of the Ministry of Tourism RUSSIA № 21 from State Register of Sports of Russia.
Russian basketball clubs in European and worldwide competitions is the performance record of men's professional basketball clubs from Russia's various top-tier level leagues over the years, Super Liga A, Professional Basketball League (PBL), and the VTB United League.
Volleyball is one of the most oldest team sports practiced in Russia. The Russian Volleyball Federation is the Official governing body for this sport After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Volleyball Federation stripped Russia of hosting the men's World Cup in August 2022.
