Russian League club Krasnodar agree to SUSPEND contracts of foreign players

Russian football club Krasnodar have agreed to suspend the contracts of their eight foreign players, forcing them to train alone, just days after Daniel Farke announced he would resign as their manager following the invasion of Ukraine.

No official reason has been given for the decision to freeze their deals but, as the bloodshed in eastern Europe reaches its eighth day, the club are now facing a mass first-team exodus and found themselves unable to fulfil a league fixture recently.

Last weekend, airport closures in the south of Russia prevented them from travelling - and the uncertain situation is set to lead to the team being ripped up.

The list of players who will be released includes former Newcastle midfielder Remy Cabella. According to reports, he is already training with former side Montpellier.

Grzegorz Krychowiak, formerly of Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla and West Brom, is also braced to leave despite putting pen to paper on a three-year contract last August.

It is even said that the 32-year-old would have been open to fully tearing up his terms in light of the crisis in Ukraine, but Krasnodar were not willing to do so.

Another notable name allowed to exit is Jhon Cordoba, who set the club back £16.5million when he joined them from Koln just six months ago.

Among those to have also had their contract paused are Erik Botheim, Cristian Ramirez, Kaio, Wanderson, Viktor Claesson and Junior Alonso.

Armenian Eduard Spertsyan is expected to stay put at his current club, however, despite being listed as one of Krasnodar's foreign contingent.

Alyaksandr Martynovich, the captain of both Krasnodar and Belarus, will also remain with the first-team set-up.

Krasnodar were rocked by the departure of manager Daniel Farke in midweek.

Farke, the former Norwich City boss, left along with his entire coaching staff after agreeing a mutual termination of their deals, having not coached a single game.

He later revealed that the decision was taken with the onslaught in Ukraine at the forefront of his mind, saying the 'serious side of life has now caught up with us'.

Currently, the club are sixth in the Russian Premier League. They are four points adrift in the race for the European spots, and gave no reason for Farke's departure.

Lokomotiv Moscow manager Markus Gisdol also stepped down from his position yesterday, citing the conflict launched by Vladimir Putin as his reasoning.

'For me, football coaching is the best job in the world,' Gisdol told Bild.

'But I cannot pursue my calling in a country whose leader is responsible for a war of aggression in the middle of Europe.

'That is not in line with my values, which is why I have resigned from my position as coach of Lokomotiv Moscow with immediate effect.

'I can't stand on the training ground in Moscow, train the players, demand professionalism and a few kilometers away orders are given that bring great suffering to an entire people.

'That is my personal decision and I am absolutely convinced of it.'

Russian troops launched an attack on, and then seized, Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine - following a firefight that set part of the complex ablaze.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Putin of resorting to 'nuclear terror' and risking a catastrophe 'six times worse than Chernobyl' that would affect the continent.

Soldiers attacked the Zaporizhzhia plant in the early hours, with CCTV footage capturing a gun battle between Putin's men and Ukrainian defenders.

Eventually, emergency crews were allowed to douse the flames before Russians moved in to occupy the site, which provides a fifth of Ukraine's electricity.