"It will be necessary to buy precisely and deliberately": the RFU executive committee adopted a new limit on foreign players

"It will increase domestic competition"

The process of approving a new limit on foreign players in the RPL was extremely difficult and dragged on for a month. Since at the May Conference of the RFU, members of the executive committee could not reach a unified solution, the draft was on the agenda for June 26.

However, the discussion and the adoption of a fateful decision took no more than ten minutes. According to members of the executive committee, the new system was so pleased with all members of the league that it was adopted unanimously.

Thus, from the season 2019/20, Russian football will heal by the new rules. RPL clubs will be able to declare 25 players for the national championship, 17 of which are Russians, and 8 are foreigners. The football law will come into force after registration of the proposal in the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobokov, who took part in the discussion of the reform, told journalists.

“The proposal will go to our department, after which it will be sent to the Ministry of Justice for the necessary procedures. In general, we welcome this project. I took an active part in its formation and discussion and was pleased with the decision that was made today. I emphasize that the new limit format was adopted unanimously, ”the minister explained.

In addition, Kolobkov expressed the opinion that the new limit will have a positive impact on all Russian football.

“This will noticeably make life easier for coaches, as well as increase internal competition. You know that in the applications of some teams for the previous season RPL were 10-11 legionnaires. Now the Russians will come to the vacant positions, who will claim to get into the starting lineup. The new scheme should be considered in connection with the change in the entire structure of the competition, ”the official said.

“New restrictions will cut off poor-quality foreign players from RPL”

Later about the structural changes in Russian football, associated with the adoption of a new project, said the president of the RFU, Alexander Dyukov.

The official confirmed that the innovation fully satisfied all the clubs of the Premier League, including those that may experience problems due to too many foreigners.

At the moment, several RPL teams have ten or more foreign players on the contract. These are Zenit, Spartak, Lokomotiv and Ufa. But Dyukov explained that the seasonal delay would allow managers and coaches to completely revise their transfer policy.

“New quantitative restrictions in the application will force clubs to more carefully approach the choice of players. This will allow to cut off poor-quality legionnaires from our championship. Will have to buy point and deliberately. Thus, we will build a new scheme in which foreigners will be assigned a certain role. They will take their positions, and under them, on the substitution, Russian footballers will sit. Such as it was at Zenit, when other legionaries changed Serb Branislav Ivanovic, there will be no more, ”the president of the football ministry explained.

At the same time, Dyukov admitted that members of the RFU executive committee are discussing the further tightening of control over the level of foreign football players. The President of the RFU said that by the end of July, the chairman of the association of domestic coaches, Mikhail Gershkovich, will present a list of criteria and requirements for footballers from abroad that can be accepted in the future.

However, despite the general positive rhetoric, Dyukov admitted that for a qualitative leap in the development of Russian football, the adopted limit will not be enough. The President of the RFU explained that in order to raise the class of Russian football players, it is necessary not only to create competition within the RPL clubs, but also seriously reform the system of youth sports schools.

“We have an understanding of what should be the target model of children's sports. But you need to be realistic: it will take several years for something to change. This is evidenced by the experience of other countries. In particular, the Germans spent more than ten years, so that their team began to receive high-quality feeding from youth teams. We have a number of programs and initiatives that should lead to progress. But now I can’t and will’t give predictions on precise terms, ”the head of Russian football admitted.

Summarizing the decision on the new limit, Dyukov admitted that he did not know how long the innovative system would work in Russian football.

“Can we ever go back to the old 6 + 5 scheme?” Never say never, but I hope this will not happen. Of course, the new scheme is a step forward, and at the same time I do not think that it will somehow significantly and radically change the situation in football. If we want a more tangible leap in development, we need more time and resources. Over time, with a successful set of circumstances, the issue of the limit will disappear on its own, ”said Dyukov.