“COVID-19 will hit the clubs”: Gabulov on the pandemic, the financial crisis in the FNL and PFL and on the return of Akinfeev to the national team

“A great economic crisis is coming”

- In February, you took the post of chairman of the board of directors of FC Olympus. Tell us when this offer arrived.

- The founder of the club, Tufan Sadigov, called to Olympus as soon as problems began in Alania. He answered with a preliminary refusal. It was necessary to close all the questions in the previous place, and then make a decision. Then he thought for a month or two, thinking what to do next. The offer of the founder remained valid. In the end, I agreed and accepted the new challenge with interest.

- You said that the club sets itself ambitious goals. The ultimate goal - access to the RPL?

- I don’t presume to look so far. It is necessary to move forward. As we see now, absolutely unpredictable events sometimes occur in our lives. As for the long-term plans of Olympus, the team must first go to the FNL, spend some time there, find fans, and then get up to the RPL. According to the initial idea, 7-10 years were allotted for this. But now I'm afraid to plan something.

- The coronavirus pandemic dealt a serious blow to business. Can you predict how the crisis will affect the Olympus investor?

- It’s unrealistic, because the richest people go bankrupt. But Sadigov and I are in touch daily. There are definitely no negative moods. The investor is determined. We discuss exclusively the issues of building and developing the club. However, today, when COVID-19 is rampant in the world, you cannot be safe from anything. A great economic crisis is coming. It is difficult to imagine how everything that happens will affect even the Russian top clubs. The economic realities of world football as a whole after the pandemic will undergo changes. It all depends on how long it lasts and how long the world will come to.

- How, from a financial point of view, has the pause due to the pandemic already affected Olympus?

“Not too much.” We have the largest expense items - salary and preparatory stage before the season. We conducted the training at the level of the RPL team, and spent quite a lot of money. And, it turns out, for nothing. But they did not suffer other losses: we do not earn on fans and advertising. We are not planning to cut salaries for football players, and will continue to build on the general trend in Russian football.

- Players of Olympus are currently in quarantine. How do they keep fit?

- All work in the club is carried out remotely. Football players are always at home. We conducted very high-quality training, three in Turkey and one in Sochi. It was from the latter that I had to return earlier in order to disband the team. For the quarantine period, everyone was given an individual training program, including with medical recommendations, so that everyone respects the rules of hygiene and does not put themselves at risk. Recently we talked with the coaching staff - in a photo and video format, the guys send them reports on the work done.

- The season in the “West” zone of the PFL did not have time to resume due to the coronavirus pandemic. Believe that he will be able to finish it at all?

- It all depends on the situation with the pandemic. We would like to finish the game. At the beginning of the year, we had specific tasks: to go out and win in every match. Olympus has good chances to compete for access to the FNL if it wins the remaining meetings. Unfortunately, the virus has made changes to our plans.

- What are the PFL management's forecasts for the timing of the resumption of the season?

- I contact, including the RFU, periodically call up with Secretary General Alexander Alaev. Now we at least have a clear date until which sporting events in Russia will not be - May 31. You can build on it, build a schedule for training football players. This is better than all the interim periods that were called before.

- Isn’t it more advisable to simply forget about the current season?

- There may be difficulties both with one scenario, and with another. But I would like us to finish the game. After all, if everything is left as is, there will be many disagreements. What to do for those teams that, for example, remained in the relegation zone? What to do for clubs that spent a lot of money on transfers and training football players to upgrade their class? At the same time, a pandemic can drag on for a long time, then there will simply not be time to play 8-10 matches.

- As part of the Olympus, Stanislav Cherchesov Jr. draws attention to himself.

- He, perhaps, has more difficulties than any other FNL or PFL footballer, because maximum attention is riveted to his football and human qualities. Still, the father of Stanislav is the head coach of the team. Stas left Baltika, and we invited him to Olympus on the recommendation of goalkeeper coach Dmitry Tyapushkin. He works, competes with the guys, shows the necessary level.

- By the age of 25, Cherchesov Jr. had only one match at the adult level. Isn't that embarrassing?

- We consider football players primarily through the prism of their skill, ability to progress. By these criteria, Stanislav arranged us. We invited him to raise the level of competition among the goalkeepers of Olympus even higher. The training sessions showed that we have a really strong cage - all the goalkeepers who played there confirmed the level of skill we needed.

- You and Stanislav Cherchesov Sr. do not discuss the game of your son?

- No. There is such a thing as corporate ethics. Stanislav Salamovich will never allow himself to address any words of support to his son or be interested in his affairs.

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Publication by Vladimir Gabulov (@vladimir_gabulov) Jul 24, 2019 at 3:25 PDT

“In Russia, several clubs die every year”

- You finished your career at the age of 35, and you could very well have entered the field. Now, when you see how the Olympus footballers work, do you feel that you haven’t played enough?

- Absolutely not. From the age of 16 I was in professional football and fully realized myself. And playing just for the sake of playing was uninteresting. By the age of 35, I understood that I was not entering the field for the sake of money or for the sake of football itself. In 2016, I was left without a team for six months. He set himself the task of returning, playing in the European championship and taking gold there. Plus he dreamed of getting a call to the national team again. I achieved all these goals, after which I realized that it’s not interesting for me to just go out and play on.

- But you are only 36, this is far from being an advanced age for the goalkeeper. Doesn't it sometimes appear that you want to go out onto the field yourself or participate in a training session?

- Since I realized that it was realized in football, such a desire has never arisen. Another thing to play with friends for fun. Big companies gathered in Ossetia - they played, for example, with Murat Gassiev (former world boxing champion. - RT ). He is a ram type forward, and I will not spoil any position in the field of the picture. Just not at the gate - played enough. Moreover, throughout his career he dreamed about the field: defender, playmaker, striker. Maybe it’s a little worse ahead - I don’t score a lot, but not because I don’t know how, but just dabble. Recently we wanted to get together with the Berezutsky brothers, sometimes we call Sasha Samedova, Roma Pavlyuchenko. The compiler would have worked out well, but everything was canceled due to quarantine. After him, we will definitely continue to play together.

- Surely, can you sometimes give some professional advice to the goalkeepers of Olympus?

- I can tell you as a former goalkeeper that the guys progress, and the team becomes stronger. In general, even before the end of a career, he always gladly gave advice to young colleagues when they asked for help. Sharing experience gained over the years is absolutely normal.

- Do you see yourself as a coach in the future?

- Not yet. I’m more interesting as a sports manager, organizer. I like to plan, build a strategy, control the implementation and at the same time see the result. This is the difference between the work of a manager - a trainer can plan his activities for a maximum of a week in advance. And I like to think for the future, although to some extent my character is more suitable specifically for the coaching profession.

- But at the moment you have to work in PFL. How difficult is this? After all, you spent almost the entire career in the elite.

- Of course, I want to be at a much higher level, but from the point of view of experience, this is an extremely useful period. Yes, here it is necessary to solve issues of not such a scale as in the Premier League, but in general the tasks are plus or minus the same, only in the RPL fundamentally different numbers, the economy. Plus, at the highest level, you need to solve more issues related to image, advertisers, media activities.

- Having plunged into the PFL, you can probably answer the question: what is the main problem of Russian football?

- First of all, in the lack of money. From here comes the infrastructure problem. Most of the clubs do not own stadiums, and they are forced to rent them from the city. So it was in Alania, so it is now in Olympus. We have to shoot objects for both the first and the youth teams, although we are dealing with the issue of acquiring a training base and thinking about our own home arena. While postponed this idea until the resumption of the season.

- You are talking about a lack of funds. In PFL, 99% of clubs are budgetary. How realistic is it to attract money from private investors, especially now?

- Indeed, it will become even harder for Russian clubs to live in the near future. And first of all, it will hit the FNL and PFL teams, since most of them are financed from the state budget. It is difficult to predict how the situation will develop. It seems to me that it is necessary to adopt amendments at the legislative level, the purpose of which will be to attract private funds.

- What amendments are we talking about?

- As far as I know, a group of deputies proposed introducing preferences for businessmen who allocate money for professional sports. This may be an option, although the proposal must be carefully considered to eliminate all loopholes for laundering. Now it is believed that budgetary funds should not be spent on professional sports. More recently, it became known about the disappearance of the Vladivostok "Ray", there were rumors about other famous clubs. The flow of such news will increase in the near future. Regions will refuse financing.

- But PFL clubs already die regularly. It turns out that now this process will take on an avalanche-like character?

- There are such concerns. In Russia, several clubs die every year. If decisions are not made at a high level, this trend will continue. Other measures are required, for example, the introduction of concessions for licensing. I remember when in 2000 I started my career in the Second Division as part of Mozdok, the situation was completely different. Then 107 teams played in six zones, now 62 in five. And the level was much higher. Almost every subject was represented by two or three teams, and less money was required. It is necessary to revive those traditions. It must be clearly understood that the development of football throughout the country depends on the level of PFL. If it goes down, if the clubs continue to disappear, Russian football is waiting for regression.

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Publication by Vladimir Gabulov (@vladimir_gabulov) July 8, 2018 at 6:52 PDT

“The goalkeeper of the national team must not pass into the near corner”

- Having finished your football career in 2018, you continue to follow the game of Russian goalkeepers and speak out on this topic in the press. Which goalkeeper can you name the best in the current RPL season?

- It's hard to single out one. Bright matches were held by many, and so that someone regularly stayed at a high level ... But, perhaps, I will name three: Igor Akinfeev, Matvey Safonov and Alexander Maksimenko.

- Can Maksimenko be considered the main discovery of the season?

- It is too early to talk about this. The fact is that goalkeepers just have to show their skills at the end of the season, when the tension reaches its climax. Here you can recall Akinfeev and his fantastic champion save in Kazan. Or Marinato Guillerme, who rescued Lokomotiv throughout the previous season.

- In winter, there were rumors that Akinfeev could return to the national team. Is this real, in your opinion?

- I believe that nothing is impossible in life. If Igor decides for himself that he is ready and wants to play for the national team, I think Cherchesov will definitely consider his candidacy. And physically he is able to hold another major international tournament. Igor's skill level and experience gained over the years speak for themselves.

- How indispensable in the national team looks Marinato Guillerme? After the home match with Belgium, you said that the goalkeeper of the national team cannot pass into the near corner.

- The goalkeeper of the national team should not miss into the near corner, but this can happen to any goalkeeper, even a world-class one.

- How correct is it that in Russia, where goalkeeper traditions are very strong, the gates of the national team are protected by the legionnaire?

- This is a very delicate moment. It is important that the legionnaire live in Russia for a long time and speak Russian. I believe that if a football player benefits the country and is honest with it, gives itself up without a trace, then everything is fine. There are no questions to Mario Fernandez. It’s more difficult with Guillerme, because he is the goalkeeper, and he simply needs to be reliable.

- Fernandez is head and shoulders stronger than competitors. Can this be said of Guillerm?

- If a person has spent the entire qualifying stage, and the coaching staff trusts him, which can be discussed. Yes, he conceded seven goals from the Belgians, but any other goalkeeper could have missed them. The team achieves the result with this goalkeeper, which means that everything is in order. Will Guilherme be the main goalkeeper of the national team for Euro 2020? It’s too early to talk about this.

- Who is capable of competing for a place in the national team for the championship of the continent?

- I think that due to the transfer of the tournament, the level of competition will increase significantly. Dzhanaev, Shunin, Guillerme, Lunev, Maksimenko, Safonov, even Dupin - these goalkeepers will fight for participation in the Euro. It is clear that everything can happen: and, God forbid, injuries, and psychological moments. I know for myself: tension is present the first six months before a major tournament, immediately after the training camp. And now this period has stretched for a year and a half. Who of the goalkeepers more stable and better spend this segment, that will fall into the application.