By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has repeated his stance that the country should ditch the idea of a traditional autumn-spring season and revert back to playing through the summer.
Last week the President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), Sergey Fursenko, quit following his country’s early exit from the 2012 UEFA European Championship despite going into the tournament on a 14-match unbeaten run.
Just before Fursenko stepped down, Mutko (pictured above) partly blamed the protracted one-off 18-month domestic season – designed to bring Russia into line with Western Europe in the build up to the 2018 World Cup – for the country’s group stage elimination in Poland and Ukraine.
Now he has gone even further, suggesting the country abandon the idea completely and go back to March-November – although not until after the 2018 FIFA World Cup which itself takes place in mid-summer.
“I’d change everything back,” Mutko was quoted as saying.
“We’re a winter country, anyway.”
Fursenko’s deputy, Nikita Simonyan (pictured above), will serve as acting RFU President until an extraordinary meeting is held.
It is being reported in Russia, meanwhile, that coach Dick Advocaat will be replaced by Valery Gazzaev.
Russia was placed in one of the easier Euro 2012 groups but Advocaat, who is returning to his native Holland to coach PSV Eindhoven, has hit back at suggestions that his tenure was a failure.
“I’m not really too interested in what others say about me,” he said.
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