The coronavirus epidemic continues to spread around the world, and the leaders of sports organizations are forced to take extreme measures. On the eve of the Continental Hockey League made an unprecedented decision and abandoned the idea of resuming the Gagarin Cup. And this despite the fact that the KHL was not particularly limited in time, because the 2020 World Cup was canceled. In this regard, it is possible that the RPL leaders may think of such a decision, although before the end of the championship the teams only have to spend eight games each.
Of course, such an idea cannot be unambiguously abandoned, because if the situation with the coronavirus worsens, there can be no talk of a systematic completion of the championship. The health of footballers and fans is paramount.
Many athletes may not want to risk their health and refuse to enter the field, which will have a direct impact on the atmosphere within the teams, and, accordingly, the results of the teams for which they play. It is enough to imagine the game “Zenith” without Artyom Dziuba or the Moscow “Lokomotiv” without Grzegorz Kryhovyak.
If the number of infected and dead people does not begin to decline, and the vaccine for coronavirus is not found, then the RPL leadership will be faced with a choice - to try to end the championship by all possible means or announce its completion. At the same time, the league can distribute medals and places in European competitions according to the current position of the teams in the table, or even recognize the tournament as failed.
Judging by the information in the media, the first option was even considered at UEFA, but it is very difficult to admit it to be fair. For example, the same “Rostov” will probably be very disappointed to lose a place in the Champions League, given the fact that at the moment it is inferior to “Lokomotiv” and “Krasnodar” only three points, but at the same time has a less complicated schedule than competitors. But even such a decision will be more reasonable than declaring a tournament invalid.
In this case, not only one of the best seasons in the history of “Rostov”, but also the same “Zenith” is under attack. Petersburgers had a great two-thirds of the season and deservedly moved towards the second consecutive championship. But in this case, their achievement will be declared invalid, and Sergey Semak and Artyom Dziuba will suffer the most.
Mentor, in the shortest possible time, managed to reanimate the team after the reign of Mircea Lucescu and Roberto Mancini. In the event of the successful end of the current campaign, he will be equal to the record holder of blue-white-blue in the number of victories in the national championship - Luciano Spalletti.
As for the forward of the Russian national team, he only in 2019 became the first champion of the country and would hardly want to refuse another gold award. Moreover, after 22 rounds, Dziuba with an asset of 13 goals is the leader in the scorer race and for the first time in his career can become the best in the RPL. Not to mention the goal-to-pass list, where Artyom is six points ahead of the closest pursuer.
It should be noted Moscow “Spartak” and “Dynamo”, which showed excellent shape in early spring before a forced pause. The wards of Kirill Novikov have already managed to climb to the sixth line and are only six points behind the stalled CSKA, and the team of Domenico Tedesco has every chance to gain the upper hand in the Russian Cup.
If the results of the current championship are stopped and canceled, blue and white will lose their chances of a long-awaited return to the European competition, in which they have not played since the 2014/15 season. Red and white risk less, because a year ago they qualified for the Europa League, but depriving them of the opportunity to take the third trophy in 17 years can seriously upset the fans.
In addition, the situation with outsiders, and specifically with those who leave the Premier League, is becoming completely unclear. If it is possible to distribute tickets to European competitions in accordance with the results of the last championship, then for the second time in a row it will not work to send teams from the RPL to the FNL.
At the same time, the decision to keep the composition of participants the same cannot be called correct, at least in relation to the leaders of the FNL. “Rotor”, “Khimki”, “Chertanovo” and “Torpedo” are unlikely to agree to voluntarily abandon their prospects to break into the top division, for which they fought for 27 rounds.
In addition, the RPL decision may provoke a conflict between clubs and football players. If now the teams still hope for its resumption and continue to pay the athletes money under the contract, then in the event of the championship being able to take a firmer position and seriously limit payments. And, on the one hand, they can be understood, because in fact the players will receive several months of vacation, and managers deprived of income will be forced to pay for it.
Given the plight of a number of Russian clubs, this could threaten them, if not bankruptcy, then at least serious difficulties. This is especially true of private clubs, the contents of which go to the money of their owners. Leonid Fedun and Sergey Galitsky are already spending substantial funds on the development of Spartak and Krasnodar and are hardly ready to do charity work.
In addition, athletes themselves can lose shape. If now they hope to return to the field and continue to practice at home, then in case of cancellation of the championship they will probably relax. All this will lead to the fact that at the beginning of the summer training camp, many coaches will have at their disposal trained athletes and will be forced to spend a lot of time to bring them into proper condition.
In this regard, the RPL is extremely undesirable to follow the example of the KHL and declare the championship stopped until there is even the slightest chance of its completion. Undoubtedly, in the current situation it is hardly worth hoping that the teams will be able to return to the field on April 10th. But even if this happens in mid-May, the league will have enough time to finish the meetings on time.
According to the UEFA decree, all national competitions must be completed by June 30th. By and large, 45 days (and with a shorter schedule and 37) is enough to conduct eight RPL rounds and two stages of the Russian Cup. Of course, the schedule will be saturated, but no more than in the same England during Boxing Day. During this period, the Premier League teams consistently play two days later on the third, which is standard practice. And given the fact that it is at stake, the teams may well work out the past month and a half in emergency mode. In addition, the situation is simplified by the fact that not a single Russian club could overcome the group stage of European competitions.
In addition, there is always the opportunity to try to negotiate with UEFA and finish the season a little later. Yes, this will inevitably affect the next championship, because the clubs will actually be deprived of the opportunity to hold summer training camps. But even this is a moderate fee for the opportunity to systematically play out all the remaining matches and avoid conflicts and scandals.