After the cessation of official Russian-Georgian relations, the Georgian government started forming ties with the neighboring region – Russia’s North Caucasus. Last year, Georgia dropped its visa regime for this region’s residents, founded the Russian-language ‘Caucasian One’ TV-channel and proposed that the international community recognize the Russian Empire’s actions in the Caucasus in the 19th century as a genocide of the Cherkess people. Another aspect of Georgia's activity is establishing contact with young people in the Caucasus: the “Caucasian Foundation”, headed by Alikhan Akhilgov, the
creator of the first professional football club in the North Caucasus, and Georgia’s football league organized a junior football tournament. An Ingush team took part in this competition.
The “Foundation” helps refugees and displaced people, so the team was recruited for the most part from children whose familes have been forced to abandon their homes. The team didn’t meet any resistance from the Ingush authorities. While in Tbilisi, the children were offered a number of interesting tours, such as visiting the zoo or aquapark.
Several prominent figures of Georgian football greeted the team in the stadium. The Ingush players were the ones to open the tournament with a game against their peers from Tskhinvali. Although the Ingush team lost this match, it managed to triumph over a team from Tbilisi. As a result, the North Caucasian team received a bronze in the tournament. Its best player was invited to Georgia to undergo further training. The young players were also able to see some professional football: the game of Dynamo Tbilisi and Llanelli of Wales took place in Tbilisi's central stadium, with the Georgian team winning 5:0.
Pavel Tsoroev, Nazran’. Exclusively to VK
