By David Owen at the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit in Sochi
April 21 – Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s Sports Minister, has hinted at an impending clampdown on the number of foreign players permitted to be fielded by Russian clubs, while indicating that the country’s President harbours doubts over how the national team will perform at the 2018 World Cup.
Meeting a small group of journalists at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi, Mutko – who is also a FIFA Executive Committee member – disclosed that during Monday’s meeting in Sochi with Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President, Vladimir Putin had acknowledged: “I don’t know how the national team will perform.”
Then, Mutko went on, the Russian leader “looked at me and said, ‘Experts are responsible for that’…
“After this statement of yesterday,” the Minister joked, “starting on Monday, I will devote all my attention and effort to the national team.”
Asked whether the Russian World Cup side would be competitive in its home tournament, Mutko replied: “We have a number of issues that are typical for all countries in the world. We have a lot of mercenaries [foreign players], and the choice for our national coach is really very limited.
“Currently on the pitch we have seven mercenaries and four Russians. There are 16 teams and 64 players the coach has to select from. It is unreal.
“I will not go into detail saying that a lot of mercenaries play at the most important positions within the team, we have too little time. But we will take certain measures here. Probably we will surprise you like in Sochi.”
Asked to put a price-tag on the cost of Russia’s preparations for the 2018 tournament, he gave a figure of approximately RUB660 billion ($122.8 billion), half of which, he said, would be spent on transport projects, such as the new airport at Rostov-on-Don.
“We did not cut down on this programme; despite all the difficulties we preserved it,” he claimed, in reference to economic tensions caused by the recent fall in the oil price and volatile exchange rates.
Turning to the Sochi stadium, which is being converted for football, he said that the aim was to play the first matches there in June-August 2016. He put the estimated redevelopment cost at roughly RUB3 billion ($55.8 million).
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1731835959labto1731835959ofdlr1731835959owedi1731835959sni@n1731835959ewo.d1731835959ivad1731835959