By David Gold
May 14 – Sergei Cheban, the executive director of the Russian Premier League, has been confirmed as a speaker for the Inside World Football Moscow Forum.
Cheban joins a list of high profile and impressive speakers at the event on June 23-24, which includes Alexey Sorokin, chief executive of Russia 2018, FIFA director Walter Gagg, and Marcin Herra, President of Poland 2012.
With six weeks to go until the Moscow Forum, a number of delegates have already confirmed their attendance for the event, including senior executives from Aon, Dow Europe, Sport + Markt and a host of other key names from the world of sport.
Cheban will address the Forum to discuss how Russia can cultivate a successful football culture through harnessing grassroots passion for the game with sound commercial expertise and strategy.
Ultimately, once the World Cup is over, the main legacy impact Russia hopes it will have will be to improve the quality of its Premier League, both on and off the pitch.
Cheban is responsible for the day to day running of the Russian Premier League, and negotiates sponsorship and TV deals.
The Russian Premier League, set up in 2001, is one of the fastest improving domestic leagues in Europe, reflected by its progress up to seventh in the UEFA Coefficients rankings as its sides enjoy success on the continent.
Champions Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow have won the Europa League in recent years, and other sides such as Rubin Kazan and Spartak Moscow have also competed well on the European stage.
As a result, Russia can now boast three places in the European Champions League, the world’s top club competition.
Zenit and CSKA are, like many of their peers, funded by wealthy donors.
Spartak Moscow can call on the wealth of billionaire owner Leonid Fedun, whilst smaller sides such as FC Krasnodar, Anzhi Makhachkala and Terek Grozny have attracted big names such as Ruud Gullit and Roberto Carlos to their ranks thanks to their new found wealth.
Cheban (pictured) is behind efforts to increase the Russian Premier League’s income, primarily from TV, as the league hopes to increase its revenue in this area from $60 million (£37 million) now to $100 million (£62 million) in coming years through a collective deal.
And the Premier League will be reverting to a schedule in line with Europe’s major leagues from the 2012-2013 season, when it will run from autumn to spring.
The current 2011-2012 campaign, which began in March, will continue until spring 2012.
But there are issues which Russia needs to address if it is to develop a thriving domestic league.
Fan safety and security, as well as the perpetual scourge of racism, continue to affect the country’s top flight.
In March Carlos, having signed for Makhachkala from Brazilian side Corinthians, was subjected to racist abuse when a banana was thrown at him on his debut against Zenit St. Petersburg.
Progress is being made, with a number of teams set to build new stadiums for the 2018 World Cup, and Roman Abramovich’s National Academy of Football has helped to improve youth development in recent years.
Cheban’s appearance at the Inside World Football Moscow Forum promises to be a fascinating and enlightening insight into some of these key issues which will affect the Russian Premier League in the coming years.
For more details on the Inside World Football Moscow Forum, please click here.
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