By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – One of Russian football’s leading officials has opposed the re-establishment of an old-style Soviet league featuring teams from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet states. The idea of a breakaway plan for a multi-national league of up to 16 teams was first floated a year ago but Nikolai Tolstykh (pictured), head of the Russian Football Union, says the money would be better spent domestically, not least on youth football instead.
The breakaway format would feature six or seven top-ranked Russian clubs, four or five Ukrainian teams plus one or two from Belarus, Armenia or Azerbaijan to make up a new Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) league.
Several large conglomerates, including Gazprom, have expressed their support, saying the new league would drive sponsorship and TV revenues and would allow clubs to better meet UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
But Tolstykh countered: “The prize money that was announced (by the new league’s organisers) – €5 billion ($6.73 billion) for five years, could be used to solve some problems in our football.”
“The money… would be very helpful for some infrastucture projects, the development of youth football in our regions,” Tolstykh added. “We can help our coaches too…”
A number of leading Russian clubs believe the proposed united league is the only way they can compete in the future but Tolstykh said: “No official documents have been submitted from the unified championship’s organising committee to us so far. And it cannot be done without taking into account the views of FIFA and UEFA.”
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European football boss Michel Platini have already opposed the CIS league and with the World Cup going to Russia in 2018, local authorities will be less inclined to take on football’s international governing bodies.
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