EXPLAINER: Sheriff a complex fairytale from breakaway state

By The Associated Press
Associated Press
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — When Sheriff Tiraspol became the first club from the former Soviet country of Moldova to qualify for the Champions League last month, it seemed like the feel-good story of the day. Just qualifying for the Champions League was in itself a huge victory. But the team from the breakaway region of Transnistria, a disputed territory unrecognized by the international community, then stunned 13-time European champions Real Madrid with a 2-1 victory. Sheriff’s success has a lot to do with its controversial owners’ deep pockets. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Transnistria’s war of independence from Moldova, two former KGB agents formed a company that became what is today the Sheriff Company, a conglomerate that dominates the breakaway region’s entire private economy.