Claims from tax authorities draw attention to charitable fund of Khabib, UFC champion from Dagestan

Khabib Nurmagomedov, the ambassador of the "Tooba" charity crowd-funding application, was publicly supporting the Makhachkala football club. However, no information about any assistance to mountain villages, low-income people, or children's clubs appeared in the public space.

In connection with non-payment of taxes, the accounts of two organizations belonging to Nurmagomedov – the "Museum of the Football" and the "Fund for the Development of Education, Sports and Social Initiatives" – have been blocked. Earlier, tax authorities blocked the accounts of Eagle FC, the Nurmagomedov Charitable Fund, and the travel company "Hickmet Travel".

On July 2, 2024, it became known that Khabib Nurmagomedov, a former UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) champion from Dagestan, had accumulated a large tax debt. On July 24, sources reported that court marshals began seizing Nurmagomedov's property. On August 16, his representative said that Nurmagomedov had paid off his debts.

Nurmagomedov's funds were not widely known in the republic, said a Dagestani journalist. In his opinion, charity projects were mainly financed through the "Fund for the Development of Education, Sports and Social Initiatives".

"If he had announced the allocation of a sum for, say, the construction of a gym in a village, assistance to athletes, the poor, and so on, he would have been inundated with hundreds of similar requests. It is unrealistic for him to implement all such projects, but then accusations would have rained down: Khabib was stingy with the money and the like," the journalist said.

"In particular, they talked about Khabib's support for the Makhachkala football club "Dynamo", which entered the Premier League this year, but whose budget is one of the smallest in the top division of the Russian football. Khabib attended one of the matches, which aroused great interest among the public and the sports community; he came to the players' locker room and encouraged them. I think that such moral support from a famous athlete is no less important for both players and fans than financial support," the journalist said.

Earlier, Magomed Magomedov, a Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the "Chernovik" outlet, pointed out that the topic of claims against Khabib is being "hyped" in the public arena by resources close to jingoistic patriotism and nationalism. "He represents the image of a successful Caucasian, a Muslim highlander, whose name is heard on the global scale ... These moments greatly irritate nationalist-minded forces," Mr Magomedov has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 8, 2024 at 09:14 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.