Las estrellas del Real Madrid y del Inter de Milán descubrirán este año un equipo que no es como el resto de participantes en la Champions: el Sheriff Tiraspol es el campeón de Moldavia, pero representa a un territorio separatista llamado Transnistria.
Este modesto club debutará en la máxima competición europea de clubes formando parte del Grupo G, que además de italianos y españoles, se completa con el Shakhtar Donetsk ucraniano, el rival hoy (18.45 h./Movistar Liga de Campeones) del modesto equipo moldavo.
El Sheriff representa la capital del Estado separatista prorruso de unos 470.000 habitantes que tras la desintegración de la URSS en 1991 se separó del resto de Moldavia, uno de los países europeos más desconocidos.
Desde entonces, Transnistria, protegido por soldados rusos, es independiente 'de facto', aunque ningún otro país del mundo lo haya reconocido. En términos futbolísticos y con el fin de formar parte del sistema UEFA, Tiraspol, la capital de unos 100.000 habitantes, juega en el campeonato moldavo, que el Sheriff ha ganado en 19 de las últimas 21 ediciones.
Los aficionados de Tiraspol se felicitan de que su micro-Estado de apenas 4.100 km2, algo más grande que Luxemburgo, vaya a recibir a grandes estrellas del balón como el francés Karim Benzema o el argentino Lautaro Martínez.
El club es propiedad de Sheriff, un conglomerado empresarial que incluye supermercados, gasolineras, una red de telefonía móvil, un criadero de esturiones y la destilería de coñac local.
Fundado por dos veteranos de las fuerzas de seguridad, uno de ellos el actual presidente del club, Victor Gushan, la casa madre del Sheriff Tiraspol controla una buena parte de la economía de Transnistria y es un actor principal desde el punto de vista político.
Este conglomerado empresarial ha financiado el complejo deportivo del club, de un valor de unos 170 millones de euros, con dos estadios (para 13.000 y 9.000 espectadores), un polideportivo y 16 terrenos de entrenamiento.
El Sheriff Tiraspol, que ya había participado en la Europa League, es un enano deportivo a nivel europeo y su plantel está valorado en 11,8 millones de euros, según el sitio especializado Transfermarkt, nada comparado con los 783,5 millones en los que está evaluada la plantilla del Real Madrid.
En el once inicial en su partido del campeonato del pasado domingo había brasileños, colombianos, griegos e incluso un luxemburgués... pero ningún moldavo.
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