Guarding the interests of the RPL: ​​why the RFU should not soften the licensing requirements for Krylia Sovetov and Orenburg

In the National Football League (FNL), one round before the end, the championship winners have been determined, who in the next season will be able to compete for the right to play in the Russian Premier League (RPL). Krylya Sovetov and Orenburg won gold and silver, as a result of which they received direct tickets, and Nizhny Novgorod will try to make it to the top division through relegation matches. At the same time, at the moment, only the bronze medalist has a license from the RFU I and admission to perform in the main championship, while the rest faced a number of problems.

In addition to the FNL winners, three other teams also went through the licensing procedure, which retain the chances of getting into the transitional match zone. For the round to the end, the fourth place is taken by Vladikavkaz "Alania" with 74 points, and Kaliningrad "Baltika" and Moscow "Torpedo" are behind it by one and two points, respectively. However, none of the above clubs were able to fulfill all the requirements for obtaining a license, and therefore their possible entry into the RPL is also in question.

Several teams have problems with infrastructure.

First of all, this concerns Orenburg and Alania, whose stadiums do not meet the requirements of the Premier League.

According to the licensing rules of the Russian Football Union (RFU), all applicants for getting into the top division of the country must have arenas of the first category.

One of the main criteria is the capacity, which must be at least 10 thousand spectators.

At the moment, the 32,000-seat Spartak stadium in Vladikavkaz is undergoing a large-scale reconstruction, due to which only one of the four stands is functioning.

Its capacity is about 3.5 thousand spectators, which does not meet the standards of the Premier League.

At Orenburg, the situation is somewhat different.

The Gazovik arena is designed for only 7.5 thousand fans, and the club has not yet initiated the construction process.

“The licensing situation creates certain discomfort. Our stadium is quite new and very comfortable. When we entered the RPL in 2016, we reconstructed the arena and gradually improved the infrastructure of all facilities. Over the past years, we have renovated the office, the gym, and have thoroughly replaced all the systems at the stadium. As of today, by the end of May, the contractor must give us a finished project, and in June we plan to start reconstruction of the stands in order to bring the number of seats up to the required 10 thousand. The work is planned to be completed within a year, possibly earlier. We promised the RFU to actively carry out the reconstruction, but last year because of the pandemic it was very difficult, but we started to do some things, "RIA Novosti quotes Orenburg President Vasily Eremyakin.

Subsequently, the functionary revised his opinion on the timing of the reconstruction of the Gazovik stadium and said that it would be possible to complete it no earlier than July 2022. Thus, throughout the season, Orenburg plans to play not an unfinished arena, but by the time the work is completed it may completely leave the RPL. Nevertheless, the team hopes to get the right to play in the top divisions of the country and have already filed an appeal against the RFU's decision not to issue them a license.

“As far as I know, we have two remarks, we dealt with this issue today. We had a question about financing, we signed a letter of intent with our sponsor for the entire season, and we fully agreed on all issues related to financing. And at the same time we prepared an appeal against the decision regarding the stadium ... We still remain in the position that the sports principle should be at the forefront, ”TASS quotes Yermyakin.

At the same time, it is noted that Orenburg has already made attempts in a different way to get the right to play in the RPL in the 2021/22 season and appealed to the championship management with a request to admit the team to participate in the championship as an exception.

In this regard, the league held a general meeting of the clubs, but the idea was not supported.

It is noted that only the Yekaterinburg “Ural”, headed by Grigory Ivanov, took the side of the “townspeople”, while all the others were against it.

Wings of the Soviets have different problems.

The team has a modern stadium built specifically for the 2018 FIFA World Cup home, but it has financial difficulties.

“This does not apply to the stadium.

The licensing procedure takes place according to all criteria: infrastructural, personnel, financial, sports.

We need to get an official resolution, find out what is wrong, and then give comments, ”said Evgeny Kalakutskiy, General Director of Samartsev,“ Sport-Express ”.

As it became known later, Wings of the Soviets have not settled with the Minsk football club, from which they acquired 19-year-old defender Dmitry Prishchepa in February 2021.

“Minsk has close ties with Wings of the Soviets and Orenburg: in winter Samara acquired the defender of the youth national team of Belarus Dmitry Prishchepa, and we have Semyon Stolbov from Orenburg. The "Wings" had quite expensive transfers of Chertanovites - and then even in the winter, including Prishchepy. For him "Minsk" had to transfer funds in two tranches. On the second, payments are overdue. The residents of Samara owe € 45 thousand. Krylia has a solid cadre asset, but no matter how they have to sell it, "Minsk head coach Fyodor Shcherbachenko told Match TV.

Thus, at the moment, only Nizhny Novgorod has the right to compete for a place in the top division, and there is a possibility that the situation will not change.

Back at the end of April, it was reported that in the event of a licensing problem for representatives of the top 4, the opportunity to qualify in the RPL would be given to the teams in fifth and sixth places.

But "Baltika" and "Torpedo" have not yet received admission from the RFU.

Several club leaders immediately noted that this year the Russian Football Union has seriously tightened the criteria for obtaining a license.

This was stated by both Kalakutsky and the sports director of Orenburg Dmitry Andreev.

In particular, he appealed to the fact that the team entrusted to him played in the RPL in the period from 2018 to 2020, and then there were no questions about the Gazovik stadium.

However, in light of recent events, the RFU's decision seems quite logical.

The reason for this is most likely the situation around Tambov.

Due to problems with their own arena, for two years the team did not play a single match in front of native fans and was forced to play in Nizhny Novgorod and Saransk.

And in the fall of 2020, it became known at all that the club was at risk of withdrawing from the tournament due to financial problems.

As a result, only help from the Russian football authorities and a number of league teams helped the “wolves” to overcome the difficult stage.

Therefore, the concerns of the leaders of Russian football are understandable.

They are not interested in such cases being repeated in the RPL.

And strict licensing is one of the possible control tools.

Undoubtedly, some points of the rules are worthy of discussion, but in general all this is aimed at raising the level of teams.

For example, the famous Zenit and Dynamo footballer Igor Semshov expressed doubt that RPL clubs are obliged to have a stadium with a minimum capacity of 10 thousand spectators. In his opinion, the same "Orenburg" is not able to completely fill the "Gazovik" arena even during meetings with the grandees, therefore, he does not need to expand the stands. And there is some truth in this. Nevertheless, in this case it is not about how logical these or those points of the rules are. And that double standards and unjustified indulgences in relation to individual teams may well lead to the emergence of another "Tambov".

If the RFU and RPL are really determined to avoid the occurrence of such incidents in the future, then they should stick to the chosen direction and require clubs to comply with the indicated licensing conditions.

At least until the moment when they are not changed.

This not only stimulates the teams to develop their infrastructure, but also demonstrates that the current leadership intends to strictly follow their plans and provoke the development of football in the country.

The final decision on granting the above-named teams a license to perform in the RPL will be made on May 12.

By this time, the RFU authorities will consider their appeals and issue a verdict.