Whether to wait for the expansion of the RPL. The main thing about the most discussed reform in football

On Tuesday, a meeting of the executive committee of the RFU. it should approve the format of the next Russian football championship.

Talk about a possible expansion of Tinkoff - the Russian Premier League (RPL) has been heard for more than a year. They flared up with renewed vigor after the start of the military operation in Ukraine.

The leaders of some clubs considered that the difficulties that had arisen, in particular the departure of legionnaires, led to a violation of the sports principle, therefore, a relegation moratorium should be introduced in the top division of the Russian football championship. At the same time, the RPL, as planned, should replenish two clubs from the Football National League (FNL). Thus, the RPL should expand to 18 teams.

Now the RPL and the Russian Football Union (RFU) continue to discuss the format of the next season. The final decision on Tuesday will be made by the executive committee of the RFU.

The RPL and FNL championships have already ended. If 16 clubs remain in the top division, then Rubin and Arsenal will go to the first league, instead of which Torpedo and Fakel will play in the elite. Khimki and Ufa will play in play-offs with Orenburg and SKA-Khabarovsk.

If the number of participants is expanded to 18, then not a single team will fly out of the RPL directly, Torpedo and Fakel will join the elite, and Rubin and Arsenal will go to the play-offs.

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RFU position

The RFU said that it was "categorically against" the increase in the number of participants in the RPL. “Yes, this can be considered in principle, but this is not done when the last round is underway. You have to live by the rules, follow the rules,” said the Secretary General of the organization Alexander Alaev to the “Championship”.

“The expansion entails big changes, such a decision will affect the entire ecosystem of football. You need to have financial accounts for it. It must be adopted in advance, be prepared, plus regulations must be approved in advance,” the functionary said.

RB Sport reported that the entire leadership of the RFU, including President Alexander Dyukov, is against the moratorium on relegation. This information was confirmed to RBC Sport by a source in the organization.

At the end of March, the RFU already discussed the idea of ​​increasing the number of clubs in the RPL to 18. Then the executive committee rejected the initiative, RBC Sport wrote, citing sources.

The Executive Committee of the RFU refused to increase the number of teams in the Russian Premier League Football

Club opinions

The meeting of the executive committee mentioned above was held the next day after the general meeting of the RPL clubs. On it, as the president of the league Ashot Khachaturyants said, ten teams were in favor of expansion, five were against, one abstained. “The appeal was transferred to the RFU,” he said.

“We are in a force majeure situation. Tomorrow, the executive committee will consider the issue, but I don’t think it will be accepted right away, ”Khachaturyants specified.

For the relegation moratorium are mainly clubs with funding at the level of middle peasants and outsiders. Among them are Rostov, Ural, Khimki, Ufa, Rubin, Arsenal.

“As a deputy of the State Duma and a person who thinks about state policy in the field of sports, I think that for a country with a population of 150 million people, 16 teams is an incredibly small number,” Roman Teryushkov, a member of the Khimki Supervisory Board, explained to Metaratings.

“I have a presentation with numbers, and they surprised even the leaders of the RPL clubs. They did not understand the scale of our problems, ”Rubin General DIRECTOR Rustem Saimanov told Sport-Express. “I sincerely hope that a decision can be made. We have not disbanded the team,” he added.

Clubs related to RPL grants in terms of funding, as a rule, do not support the expansion of the league.

“We are categorically against this economically unjustified step. I understand that economic issues may only concern our club, but everyone will still have to deal with the consequences of this destructive decision, ”says Evgeny Melezhikov, general director of Spartak.

The next general meeting of RPL clubs was held last Thursday. The majority again supported the moratorium.

RPL clubs voted to expand the league to 18 teams Football

How the board will vote

A RBC Sport source in the leadership of the RFU and several interlocutors in the RPL board said they did not expect a decision on a moratorium on relegation.

“The RFU sees no point in rewriting the regulations when the sports principle is defined. So you can change the rules every year, and the negative around such decisions will only increase, ”said a source in the RFU.

An interlocutor on the board of the RPL said that a slight advantage is still observed in favor of opponents of the expansion of the league.

RFU Secretary General supported Khachaturyants against the background of resignation data Football

Division into eights

Changing the number of RPL participants is not the only possible reform of the tournament.

Another scenario is to keep the current number of teams and split them into two eights after the first part of the championship. At the second stage, the clubs of the first eight will compete for medals, representatives of the second will determine who will leave the elite.

Spartak called this option "a much more reasonable change." This will “increase the number of status matches, add intrigue and have a positive impact on commercial income,” Melezhikov said.

Spartak finished the championship in 10th place this season.

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league cup

Possible reforms in the Russian championship are also explained by the removal of the Russian national team and clubs from international matches, which will cause additional windows to appear in the internal calendar. In this regard, a new tournament may appear in the country - the League Cup. However, while such an idea does not enjoy absolute support either.

“I am not a supporter of the League Cup. Especially when our fans' interest in the Russian Cup is growing. This is a real, original tournament. I'm not sure that the League Cup will cause the same interest among the fans. I do not want to criticize the tournament, but I have questions about the economic component of the project. If colleagues can present a financial and organizational model confirmed by partners, then it makes sense to discuss this initiative, ”Alaev told RBC Sport.

The League Cup is the idea of ​​the RPL clubs. Members of the working group have not yet provided data on who will sponsor the competition.

In addition, the interlocutors of RBC Sport, who are related to RPL commercial contracts, noted that the creation of the League Cup would hit the league's economy. “It turns out that our partners signed up for an exclusive product, and now, in fact, a competitive league is being created. Thus, our product is in some sense depreciated, ”said one of them.