Is it really possible that a foreign footballer came to play in Syria in 2016?

Some of Basel Abdulfattah’s friends and relatives still find it hard to believe, but the Russian defender spent six months at Al Jaish of Damascus last year – and insists he never felt unsafe.

While numerous regions are completely torn apart by civil war, the Syrian capital continued to function relatively normally – with his experience shedding some light on life in a country at war with itself and foreign foes.

Abdulfattah is not a regular Russian name, of course, and Basel was born in 1990 to a family of mixed background in St Petersburg.

“My father, Mansur, came to the Soviet Union in 1980 to study engineering at the Transport University,” Abdulfattah explains in an exclusive interview with Sport360. “He met my mother Tatiana there, and they fell in love. I’ve lived in Russia all my life, even though we visited uncles and aunts in Syria a few times – and I remember what the country was like before the war started.”

In his young days, Basel was a promising player. He represented Russia at Under-21 level, alongside future stars Oleg Shatov, Artyom Dzyuba, Fyodor Smolov and Aleksandr Kokorin. Having graduated from the famous Smena academy in St Petersburg, he joined Zenit and trained with legends like Andrei Arshavin, Konstantin Zyryanov and Roman Shirokov, all the while dreaming of emulating their careers.

So how did he end up in Syria?

“The aspirations didn’t materialise at Zenit. I loved the club but when I was 20, I understood that I needed to leave Zenit in order to play. I joined Krylya Sovetov Samara, but that didn’t really work out, and I had to move to lower divisions. When an offer from the Syrian FA arrived, it was rather interesting.

“The Syrians got in touch with me much earlier in my career. They heard that a player of Syrian origin plays for Zenit and wanted to give me citizenship, so that I would represent their national team. It was irrelevant for me in those days, of course, because I only wanted to play for Russia. However, by the age of 25 it was obvious that Syria was my only option to taste international football.”

And so, in the summer of 2015, Abdulfattah made the trip to Damascus to meet the president of the Syrian FA.

“I came with my father, and we had positive talks. They promised to prepare all the necessary documents, so that I would get Syrian citizenship,” Abdulfattah recalls.

A few months later, he came to train with the national team, and then coach Muhannad Al Fakeer was satisfied with his performance. However, by the beginning of 2016, Al Fakeer was dismissed under remarkable circumstances.

“The team successfully went through the second qualifying stage of the World Cup, but the coach threw four important players out of the squad for breaking disciplinary rules. The story made big headlines, and there was a huge outcry from the fans. The federation decided to stand with the players and sacked the coach.”

Considering the ongoing war tearing away at the country, it is hard to believe such a minor issue led to an outcry in Syria, but Abdulfattah explains: “People need a distraction from their worries, and football offers it. Fans are emotional about their national team and they hope to qualify for the World Cup.”

BASEL ABDULFATTAH Born: March 6, 1990 in Leningrad, Russia

Position: Defender

Previous Clubs: Zenit, Krylia Sovetov, FC Yenisey Krasnoyarsk, FC Chernomorets, Dynamo St Petersburg, Al Jaish

Honours: Syrian Premier League 2016

Such passion made it easier for Abdulfattah to accept an opportunity to play for Syrian champions Al Jaish at the start of 2016.

“I was out of contract, and Al Jaish offered me a chance to play. That way I could keep my form and also get accustomed to the local mentality. After all, I grew up in a regular Russian family. We always spoke Russian at home, and I don’t even know Arabic. It was natural to stay in the country and understand its people better.”

While most people may have approached such a move with trepidation given the volatile nature of the country, Abdulfattah insists he was simply focused on football.

“It was a bit unusual of course and people in Russia didn’t understand why I was going to a place considered dangerous. But during my visits to Damascus I saw that life goes on as usual.

“Yes, people are tired of war, and there are a lot of refugees on the streets, but overall everything functions as usual. The banks, the stores, the transportation, the schools – everything is perfectly okay. Everyone goes to work every morning.

“My relatives, who live in Syria, told me that everything should be fine and it seemed logical to play in the Syrian league at the time”.

Getting used to life in Damascus was actually fairly straightforward, and Abdulfattah even started picking up some Arabic.

“There are numerous security checkpoints, but that was okay. The only unusual thing was the sound of military planes that flew over the city very often. I could hear them very well, and that was weird at first. But you get used to everything, don’t you? I lived at a comfortable hotel and got around the city by taxi.

“The assistant coach Tarek Jabban is a local legend who played abroad and speaks very good English. He translated everything to me. I learned a few words in Arabic, too, to speak with the players. Football is a common language anyway. It was easy to understand each other, and the jokes are very similar everywhere around the world.”

Getting a warm reception certainly helped, and Abdulfattah’s Russian nationality was certainly no problem in the Syrian capital given the close relationship between the two countries.

“Most of the people in Damascus support [Syrian president] Assad, I only met five or six people who don’t. He is not a dictator, the whole image of him is wrong. Russians are very popular amongst Assad supporters. To be half-Russian and half-Syrian is the best combination there.

“Some people were really surprised that I came to play, but they understood my motives when I explained them. I was the only foreign player in the league.”

The football league has continued apace throughout the civil war, though Adulfattah admits Al Jaish crowds were disappointing.

“In Damascus it was absolutely normal, though our team was not very popular. Few fans came to watch our games, despite the fact that we won the title. [City rivals] Al Wahda are much more popular, and there are about 20,000 fans in the stands during their matches. Full stadium. Most of them are teenagers and young people. Older generations don’t really go to football in Syria.”

“One of the districts in Homs was completely ruined, like Stalingrad after World War II. It’s more dangerous there, but I wanted to play and wasn’t afraid.”

Even most away matches were rather typical for Abdulfattah, with one notable exception.

“Latakia was fine, it’s like a leisure resort,” says Abdulfattah. “The only strange experience was when we travelled to Homs. One of the districts there is completely ruined, like Stalingrad after World War II. It’s more dangerous there, but I wanted to play and wasn’t afraid to go. There were no incidents at the stadium, and then we just went home.”

Despite his personal fearlessness, Abdulfattah made the move to Syria alone, leaving his family at home in St Petersburg.

“My wife and daughter stayed in Russia. There were plans to bring them for a visit for about 10 days, but that never happened. I missed them very much, and came home for a vacation in May. My father came to visit twice, though, and I enjoyed the time with my Syrian family as well.”

From a professional point of view, the experience was certainly enriching, as Al Jaish were crowned Syrian champions and impressed in continental competition too. But Abdulfattah believes much more could be done to help the sport develop in the country.

“We won the title, and reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup, which is a remarkable achievement for the club. I was in the line-up most of the time, and the level of the Syrian league is good.

“Syrians have very good youth sides, too, but they lose many players in the transition to professional football because salaries are extremely low. The very best players are paid well, and they have a chance to play in Qatar or the Emirates as well, but all the rest are paid about $100 dollars a month.

“It is possible to earn more in other professions, and – unlike in other countries – becoming a footballer is not worthwhile financially. Personally, I couldn’t understand how people can make the ends meet with $100 dollars per month, even taking the bonuses into account. Inflation is high, and the salaries are paid in local currency. It’s very difficult”.