Postponement of matches for the national team, elections to the RFU executive committee and the impact of the pandemic: what was discussed at the general meeting of the RPL

On December 22, a general meeting of the Russian Premier League (RPL) took place.

During the event, the interim results of the national championship of the 2020/2021 season and the first 14 rounds of the youth championship were summed up.

In addition, one of the main issues on the agenda was the nomination of candidates for the RFU executive committee. 

As you know, the body consists of 25 people, including the President of the RFU Alexander Dyukov, the head of the RPL Sergei Pryadkin, the chairman of the judging committee Ashot Khachaturyants and others.

At the same time, three quotas are intended for the heads of the Russian Premier League clubs.

Until now, the executive committee included the owners of Spartak and Krasnodar - Leonid Fedun and Sergei Galitsky, respectively, as well as CSKA president Yevgeny Giner.

It is worth noting that this time all three were also on the list of candidates.

“Seven people were registered - Evgeny Giner, Sergey Galitsky, Rustem Saimanov, Anatoly Meshcheryakov, Boris Rotenberg, Yuri Solovyov and Leonid Fedun,” Pryadkin said during a press conference.

It is noteworthy that the list of applicants for getting into the executive committee was published long before the official announcement of the RPL, and the chances of the general director of Rubin were highly appreciated.

As a result, Saimanov really got the largest number of votes (12) and was elected to the executive committee, and in addition to him, Galitsky and the chairman of the board of directors of Dynamo Yuri Solovyov (both - nine votes) were included in the body. 

At the same time, many were surprised by the fact that Giner lost his place in the executive committee.

Among them was Pryadkin himself, who said that such an alignment of votes was a surprise to him.

“As for Giner, I am a little surprised, to be honest.

I think that from the point of view of the lobby, the RPL is one of the most important candidates.

The fact that he did not pass was a surprise to me.

But I am sure that Giner will also work in the executive committee and for the benefit of the RPL, ”the functionary noted.

In addition, during the meeting, the clubs supported Alexander Dyukov as a candidate for the presidency of the RFU, elected a delegate from the RPL Sergei Cheban to the union conference, and also considered the issue of the RPL budget and the league's development strategy.

So, Pryadkin admitted that the coronavirus pandemic had a serious impact on the RPL and caused certain financial difficulties.

The head of the organization noted that in this regard, the RPL for the first time ends the year with a loss during his activity as a leader.

“Sub-tenants have gone, costs have increased.

As for the internal budget, we have worked out a roadmap to go to zero in the season.

The deficit is felt not only by the RPL, but also by the clubs and the RFU.

There are no changes in the sponsorship budget.

As for the strategy, the main points of the RPL development have been prepared until 2025.

We consider it necessary to reflect the importance of transforming the RPL into a single organization.

The experience of foreign leagues shows that this is the most obvious tool for influencing the quality of football content and the efficiency of its distribution.

On the basis of the prepared main directions of RPL development, an analytical stage was carried out, which included an analysis of the regions, the best practices of other leagues, the advertising market, media and entertainment, ”the functionary said.

According to him, the next stage will be the preparation of a roadmap for the league's development strategy.

Thus, the RPL commercial committee will have to prepare a project jointly with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and the position of the working group on television and the block on the implementation of media rights will be taken into account in the preparation.

As it became known, a report on this matter will be presented at the next meeting, presumably in the first quarter of 2021.

It is noteworthy that the agenda of the meeting did not include the question of the financial situation in the football club Tambov, where the players have not been paid their salaries for several months.

Moreover, the situation in the club reached the point that several team players refused to play in the 17th round match with Spartak.

A few days ago, the sports director of the "wolves" Pavel Khudyakov said that the issue with debts would be settled in January-February, but at the same time stressed that so far only negotiations are underway in this direction.

Nevertheless, Pryadkin assured that the RFU and the RPL are already taking certain measures.

According to him, he personally held a meeting with the leadership of the Tambov region, at which the current situation in the team was discussed.

“We provide all the necessary assistance.

There is a certain amount due to "Tambov" from the commercial income of the RPL.

It will be fully paid if the club fulfills all its duties as a member of the league ... A detailed meeting and discussion of the measures that he and the regional leadership are taking were held with the governor ... We outlined further steps ... We will do everything possible to "Tambov "Continued his performance in the competition," Pryadkin assured.

Among other things, the functionary commented on the information about the possible postponement of the meetings of the 23rd round of the RPL.

As it became known, representatives of the RFU and the Russian national team turned to the league with such a request in order to provide the national team with more time to prepare for the matches of the qualifying tournament of the World Cup in Qatar. 

As you know, on March 21, within the framework of the national championship, eight matches are planned, two of which can be attributed to the number of super-intense.

In the capital, CSKA will host Zenit, and Krasnodar will meet with Dynamo in their field.

Thus, many representatives of the national team risk not having time to recover by the start of the World Cup qualifying tournament, in which it starts on March 24.

For seven days, domestic footballers will play with the teams of Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia, and twice - away.

“Yes, we have an appeal from the RFU regarding assistance in postponing this tour.

You understand what this is connected with - an increase in the number of days for the preparation of the national team.

RPL presented two versions, the clubs were asked to discuss them with the head coaches before the end of the week.

The clubs will express their position - to meet the national team halfway or express their wishes, ”concluded Pryadkin.