Eight rounds and the cup in 35 days: the RFU decided to resume the Russian football championship on June 21

The Executive Committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU) made a long-awaited decision for the fans. The season in the Russian Premier League (RPL), interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be played out, and the winner of the Russian championship will be determined according to the sporting principle.

The tournament will resume on June 21 - the first tour after the break is scheduled for this date. The draw of the Russian Championship will end on July 22. Eight remaining rounds should be held during the month. Teams will have to hold matches not only on weekends, but also in the middle of the week, so in some cases the breaks between games will be no more than three days. The exact schedule of meetings will be determined later.

In addition to the Russian championship, the country’s Cup will continue. A quarter-final match between Shinnik and Ural is scheduled for June 24. Its winner will meet in the next round with Khimki. Another pair of semifinalists will be Spartak and Zenit. These matches will take place on July 18 and 19. The final of the Cup of Russia will be held at the end of the RPL season. Reserved for him on July 25th.

At the same time, the seasons in the Football National League (FNL) and the Professional Football League (PFL), the first and second divisions of the championship of Russia, are completed ahead of schedule. Seats in the standings will be distributed as of March 17th. Thus, in the next season the Volgograd “Rotor” and “Khimki” will be able to perform in the RPL. True, they still need to go through the licensing procedure. If the clubs do not meet the necessary conditions, they will not be able to count on a promotion in the class. The priority right to remain in the elite will be with the teams that took 15th and 16th places in the RPL.

Other clubs in the first division will not be able to replenish the elite for next season. The RFU Executive Committee decided to cancel the holding of butt games between the 13th and 14th RPL teams and the third and fourth FNL. Thus, the Moscow Chertanovo and Torpedo will remain in the second strongest division. It is worth noting that Chertanova scored as many points in an incomplete season as Khimki, and Torpedo lost only one point to the Moscow Region team.

The matches remaining in this football season will be held without spectators. Teams will be able to play in the RPL at their home stadiums, and in the Cup of Russia, venues will be determined based on the epidemiological situation. In both tournaments, teams will be able to make five substitutions per match instead of the usual three - permission for this was issued by the International Football Federation (FIFA).

At the moment, Zenit is leading in the Russian Football Championship with 50 points. Lokomotiv and Krasnodar give him nine points, claiming not only championship medals, but also tickets to the Champions League. The fourth and fifth places, giving the right to play in the Europa League, are occupied by Rostov (38 points) and CSKA (36 points). In the relegation zone are “Wings of the Soviets” (22 points) and “Akhmat” (20 points).

According to the President of the RFU, Alexander Dyukov, now the country has developed a more favorable environment for holding matches than in March, when the Russian championship was interrupted. He noted that teams will be required to comply with a special protocol aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus infection.

“In mid-March, we made the absolutely right decision. The fact that not a single employee and footballer was infected, confirms this. In mid-March, they knew very little about coronavirus, and equipment with personal protective equipment was extremely low. At that time there were no rules of hygiene. Now we are much better prepared to host matches than in March. We have developed a detailed protocol called the rules for continuing the season. We took into account all the recommendations of the authorities, and also took into account developments in other associations. The regulation should minimize the risk of getting sick. The use of measures may reduce the risk of the disease to zero, ”said Dyukov at a press conference.

The head of the RFU noted that the decision to resume the RPL and the Cup of Russia was adopted unanimously. At the same time, he warned that although the executive committee had spoken out for the continuation of the season, the state and local authorities would have the last word in organizing the matches. If the Russian championship is again interrupted and not played out, the distribution of seats will take place on the last round.

The teams have more than a month to prepare for the resumption of the season. During this time, they will need not only to hold training camps, but also to extend agreements with those football players whose contracts expire this summer. Dyukov stressed that the clubs will have to independently resolve this issue. At the same time, the head of the RFU said that in the near future a government order should be issued that would allow foreign players to return to Russia.