February 26 – The forces against the formation of a unified CIS league are growing in strength as Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko weighs in again with his belief that a Russian-Ukrainian championship is economically unprofitable and pointless.
Speaking at the meeting of the government commission for coordinating the Open government activities on Tuesday, he said: “It is a wrong target [the formation of a unified league], which is not supported by anything neither from the sports, nor economic point of view.”
In Mutko’s opinion, the funds which are planned to be invested in the Russian-Ukrainian championship will not be enough to support the league. “So, here came Gazprom and decided to put $1 billion to it. But this championship won’t pay off even for 15% [of costs],” said Mutko
“There is also the position of the world football federation, of President Blatter. I am a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee and all I have to say is that, firstly, this is against FIFA’s interest and ignoring them equals not respecting yourself.
“Secondly, from the sports point of view, I don’t see any logic in this. There is a Russian championship, so we need to be occupied with it. If there are some resources, lets put them into the Russian football. To be honest, I do not see any arguments [for joint championship],” said Mutko.
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