The reform of the Cup of Russia, the abolition of the expansion of the RPL and a new contract with Cherchesov: what was discussed at a meeting of the executive committee of the RFU

Final in Yekaterinburg and the group stage

The first meeting of the RFU Executive Committee in 2020 took place in Moscow on Thursday. The event was expected to address a number of important issues, including the reform of the Cup of Russia and an increase in the number of RPL participants. As a result, the audience discussed in detail only the first topic, which the clubs announced at the general meeting of the Premier League at the beginning of the year. The Russian Football Union approved innovations.

However, at first the city was determined in which the final of the tournament of the current draw will be held. It became Yekaterinburg. He received this right in the fight against Nizhny Novgorod. According to the president of the union, Alexander Dyukov, 14 members of the executive committee voted for the capital of the Urals, while six for the competitor. Ural President Grigory Ivanov has already managed to rejoice at the opportunity to take the decisive match, especially since the team continues to play in the draw and congratulated all the fans.

As for the reform of the Cup, it turned out to be quite voluminous. For the first time in the history of the tournament, a group stage will appear in it. 30 teams will be divided into ten groups of three teams each. Moreover, in each group one team from the first three divisions of the national championship will be represented.

“We are trying to increase attendance in the regions. The ability to play two matches with the FNL and RPL teams is very important for regional clubs. Plus, RPL clubs that don’t play in Europe have few matches during the season. With the reform of the Cup, these clubs will increase the number of meetings by two. This is a step forward, ”said Dyukov.

But the teams acting in the international arena, as expected, will now begin the fight for the prestigious trophy from the 1/8 finals in March, which is supposed to make their life easier in the fall.

“In addition, we will be able to play during the days of the European Cup matches. This is an important decision. The commercial attractiveness of the tournament should increase, we retain five or six RPL top clubs. They will start from the 1/8 finals, and not in the fall. You know the attitude of such teams to the autumn cup matches. Therefore, this is also a plus, ”added Dyukov.

By the way, one of those who voted for the reform was the president of Spartak Leonid Fedun. He said that he initially supported the proposed changes, and emphasized that they can “fix everything”.

The head coach of Lokomotiv Yuri Semin, who in recent seasons complained about the overload of the wards in the fall, was also pleased with the innovations.

“Teams that perform in Europe always have more matches. And thanks to the reform, at least some kind of regime will be created to prepare for European competitions. This decision is reasonable. Personally, I advocated for changes, ”said the coach.

“In the long run, 18 clubs is fine.”

The reform of the Cup of Russia, of course, aroused some interest among the fans, but the executive committee could really go down in history if the expansion of the RPL to 18 teams were approved on it. Premier League clubs unanimously supported this proposal in January. However, in the RFU this venture did not find a response. As a result, on Thursday at the House of Football they did not even discuss it. The president of the union noted that so far not all teams are ready for the game in the elite.

“In the long run, 18 clubs is normal, but we should have at least 24-25 teams that could play in the RPL. We see clubs with new arenas, but one stadium is not enough. We need a team of managers who can work with sponsors, viewers to create a competitive team. Plus, you need money, hundreds of millions of rubles, although not billions. Not everyone has that kind of money. I heard an opinion: let's move on, and then we'll figure it out. The decision to switch to the autumn-spring system was made in the same way, but we did not receive the development of the infrastructure we were waiting for. It is necessary to prepare clubs, ”Dyukov explained.

But the third most powerful league in the PFL country is waiting for serious changes. In the near future the Vostok zone will cease to exist, in which only six teams have played in recent seasons. According to the head of the RFU, the decision is primarily aimed at protecting the interests of collectives from the Far East and Siberia.

“We calculated in detail all the consequences, costs, distribution approaches, costs, sources of financing. It was important to determine the status of PFL. We will not dwell on four zones; we have chosen the league development vector. According to it, we will try to help create new clubs, including in the Far East and Siberia. We want to start the licensing procedure earlier and end before April, and not in May, in order to prepare well for the new PFL season, ”said Dyukov.

Joke of Tarasov and the future of Kokorin

The executive committee also discussed other topics relevant to Russian football. In particular, the RFU President spoke about an unsuccessful joke about the midfielder Dmitry Tarasov's coronavirus, which is currently being watched in Rubin. Earlier, the organization was interested in the statement Football Against Racism (FARE).

“Tarasov’s joke was unsuccessful. The RFU condemns this act. As for our appeal to the ethics committee, the decision will be made, we will report about it. On the other hand, the player explained his action. We ask for time to analyze and evaluate all the data. We’ll make a decision today or tomorrow, ”Dyukov clarified the situation.

The former chairman of the Zenit board of directors could not comment on what is happening with the striker of the St. Petersburg team Alexander Kokorin. Judging by the latest news, the forward will nevertheless go on loan to Sochi.

“Was he connected?” Was torture used? But stop joking, I don’t know how and who spoke to him. Was he relaxed, was there a lamp pointing into the eyes of related relatives. RFU would like him to play. I don’t see a situation in which a football player could not get practice and earn a chance to be called up to the Russian national team, ”said Dyukov.

The president was also asked about the situation with joint payments for a transfer to Monaco by Russian midfielder Alexander Golovin, which should have been received by the schools that raised him. Dyukov lamented that the youth sports school itself is often poorly aware of its rights.

“This is a good lesson. Schools really do not know the solidarity system, we will solve this problem. The passport department will be instructed to inform schools about transfers that happened to their players. It is necessary to make a training manual for schools, post it on the site. We will use various venues, conferences to talk about it, ”said the functionary.

Finally, Dyukov promised that in the near future the RFU would extend the contract with the head coach of the Russian national team Stanislav Cherchesov until the end of 2022 with the possibility of extension.