2005 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup explained

Tourney Name:	Commonwealth of Independent States Cup
Year:	2005
Other Titles:	CIS Cup, Кубок Содружества 2005
Country:	Russia
Dates:	15–23 January 2005
Num Teams:	16
Venues:	2
Cities:	1
Champion Other:	Lokomotiv Moscow
Count:	1
Matches:	23
Goals:	61
Top Scorer:	Georgi Adamia (6 goals)
Prevseason:	2004
Nextseason:	2006

The 2005 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup was the thirteenth edition of the competition between the champions of former republics of Soviet Union. It was won by Lokomotiv Moscow for the first time.

Format

This edition of the tournament featured a unique one-off format. In attempt to persuade Russian and Ukrainian champions to field their strongest squads, Lokomotiv Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv were given a straight bye to the Semifinal, avoiding Group phase and Quarterfinal. As a result, two of four groups featured only three clubs, and only four group winners advanced to the knock-out round. Ultimately, the change did not make desirable effect on Dynamo, who brought a reserve squad, and the format was reverted since next year.

Participants

Team	Qualification	Participation
Lokomotiv Moscow	2004 Russian Premier League champions	2nd
Dynamo Kyiv	2003–04 Vyshcha Liha champions ¹	9th
Dinamo Minsk	2004 Belarusian Premier League champions	5th
FBK Kaunas	2004 A Lyga champions	7th
Skonto Riga	2004 Latvian Higher League champions	13th
Levadia Tallinn	2004 Meistriliiga champions	3rd
Sheriff Tiraspol	2003–04 Moldovan National Division champions	4th
Tbilisi	2003–04 Umaglesi Liga 4th team ²	1st
Pyunik Yerevan	2004 Armenian Premier League champions	6th
Neftchi Baku	2003–04 Azerbaijan Top League champions	4th
Kairat Almaty	2004 Kazakhstan Premier League champions	2nd
Pakhtakor Tashkent	2004 Uzbek League champions	4th
Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda	2004 Tajik League champions	5th
Nebitçi Balkanabat	2004 Ýokary Liga champions	1st
Dordoi-Dynamo Naryn	2004 Kyrgyzstan League champions	1st
Russia U19	Unofficial entry, not eligible to advance past group stage	6th