Vyacheslav Viktorovich Artashin (Вячеслав Викторович Арташин) (

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

, 17 March 1972 -

, 22 May 2014) was a Russian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer and referee. His position of choice was usually in the forwards at

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

. He played for Strela Kazan in the Championship of Russia, having won several titles. Artashin represented the USSR youth rugby team and the Russian national side on several occasions most notably at the 2000 World Cup. At the end of his playing career, Artashin organised various kids', junior and senior rugby sevens, rugby league and

beach rugby Beach rugby is a sport that is based on rugby union. There is no centralized regulation of the sport as in beach soccer or beach volleyball, but leagues are common across Europe. The sport is particularly popular in Italy, in the Balkan region a ...

tournaments, which he also refereed. He was also a referee at the 2013 Summer Universiade rugby sevens matches. Artashin was named

Master of Sports of Russia Master of Sports of Russia (MS) (russian: Мастер спорта России (МС)) is a sports honorary title in the Russian Federation and a direct successor to the similar Soviet classification system. To assign the title of MS prerequis ...

in 2003 and took part at several senior tournaments. His ex-wife, Ellina Skvostsova and their daughter, Daria, died in a plane crash in Kazan on 17 November 2013, and on 22 May 2014, he died of a heart attack. A trophy awarded to one of the junior rugby sevens teams in the Volga District was named after Vyacheslav Artashin: in 2015 it was presented to the winners by his brother Sergey.

References

External links

Vyacheslav Artashin player profile
Russia national rugby league team players 1972 births 2014 deaths Russian rugby league players Sportspeople from Kazan Rugby league props Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league referees Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2014 {{Russia-rugbyleague-bio-stub