Over the past few days, the most discussed topic in Russian football has been the reform of the country's championship. On this occasion, the RFU organized a special press conference, at which the head of the research and consulting company Hypercube, Peter Newvenhays, spoke, who not only presented in more detail the possible format of the championship, but also answered questions from journalists.
The event began with the Dutch specialist giving a detailed account of the new format of the Russian football championship (Jupiter 16), which could be adopted as early as the 2022/23 season. In general, the information completely coincided with the one that was published a few days ago. It is assumed that the RPL will avoid a reduction in the number of participants and will be conducted in two stages. Within the framework of the fall, each team will be assigned to one of four baskets in accordance with the results of the previous season, after which they will play 24 matches (12 at home and 12 away). It is guaranteed both at home and on a visit, she will meet only with neighbors in the quartet, as for the rest, the list of opponents will be determined by the computer. The team will play three home and three away matches against the teams of each remaining quartet (18 in total)
Many were worried if this would lead to the fact that the fans would lose such iconic derbies as CSKA - Spartak.
And the Dutchman replied that such a development of events, although possible, is extremely unlikely.
“Naturally, when you have derbies, I would like them to be preserved.
If the clubs fall into the same group based on last season's results, then they will definitely play against each other.
If CSKA and Spartak find themselves in different baskets, then there is a 75% chance that they will meet, a 25% chance that they will not.
But there will also be the second part of the championship.
Both CSKA and Spartak are likely to get into the gold group.
Now the path of these teams intersects twice a year, or maybe four.
But in football, everything is unpredictable.
Maybe one team will perform well, the other - unsuccessfully, ”admitted Newvenhuis.
As for the second stage of the championship, before it starts, the clubs will lose 50% of their points, and will also be divided into two more groups: the six strongest will enter the gold and compete for the championship, medals and most places in European competitions, and the ten remaining ones - into "silver". However, they will fight not only for survival, but also for access to the League of Conferences. So, the two best teams will advance to the playoffs, where they will first determine the winner in a face-to-face mini-duel, and then play the ticket itself in the confrontation with the fourth team of the country (or the fifth, if someone from the first four wins the cup).
“The point is not that a weak team is in the European Cup.
Sometimes a club that takes seventh place goes higher.
There is nothing wrong with that.
It is important for what exactly the opportunity to jump from the “silver” to the “gold” group is being made.
Teams from the second group should have a dream, a hope that they have something to fight for, ”said the head of Hypercube.
At the same time, he especially drew attention to the fact that the reforms will help to significantly raise both the sports component and improve the financial situation of the clubs.
According to the company, it is planned to increase the entertainment (+ 19%), attendance (+ 15%), the number of top matches (+ 26), as well as the income of the teams, depending on their level.
Thus, the leaders will receive an additional 16 billion rubles, the middle peasants - five billion, the outsiders - one.
“Sport and material gain are interconnected. We came to the conclusion that in Russia their players are paid too much. You need to understand why this is happening. Salaries are high, and players are not showing decent football ... Take the last 50 years. Russia ranked roughly seventh in Europe. This is what she deserves. Really, something has changed in genetics, then the Russians have forgotten how to play football? Therefore, changes must simply be made that will help to achieve greater success, ”said the Dutchman.
As for the lower leagues of the country, the format there seems to be even more confusing. Thus, Newvenhays confirmed the initiative to create a new tournament, which will become the link between the PFL and the FNL. At the same time, the two lowest championships will move to the “spring-autumn” system, while the FNL will be held according to a hybrid scheme. There will also be a division into "gold" and "silver" groups (ten teams each), and the holders of the RPL vouchers will be determined in two stages. In the fall, the teams that will directly get into the top division will be announced, and in the spring - the participants in the transitional matches.
It is not surprising that many journalists considered the new system of holding Russian championships too complicated and expressed the opinion that this could scare away the leaders of national football.
However, Newvenhays assured that other countries were initially skeptical about the reforms, but later appreciated them.
“When a new format appears, people start saying, 'Too difficult.'
In Belgium, we had to wear helmets because many were unhappy.
But then everyone liked it - players, coaches, journalists.
There are more major matches, everyone is more interested.
Yes, this format is more confusing.
Instead of 30 games there were 24. This is a revolution in football ... Russia will be happy, you will not be an exception, ”said the consultant.
According to Newvenhays, one of the main wishes of the clubs was to increase the number of matches in the season.
According to the new format, each team will hold 34 meetings per competition year, and this is not counting the national cup and European tournaments.
At the same time, he noted that while there are some difficulties with the calendar, but they are planned to be solved in the near future.
“At the moment, the RFU is discussing a proposal for the last stages of the Russian Cup.
It has two dates in May - two meetings take place on one day, one on the other.
And May is a very good month for football.
We would advise holding the last two stages of the Russian Cup at a time when it is impossible to play in most regions - on Christmas or before the start of the Champions League and Europa League playoffs, ”said the head of Hypercube.
A similar proposal was greeted with hostility by a number of journalists, since it implied holding matches at the end of December (given the calendar provided by Newvenhuis, it was not about Christian, but Catholic Christmas).
At the same time, the expert himself noted that the decisive meeting of the Cup can be arranged either at the Gazprom Arena or in the southern regions.
“The final of the Russian Cup can be played in St. Petersburg.
There is a roof there.
We discussed this situation with Zenit, they did not say anything against it, ”assured Newvenhays.
At the same time, he added that, if necessary, the number of matches within the first stage of the championship can be reduced from 24 to 20. The Dutchman called it undesirable, but assured that it could be organized in the event of various kinds of circumstances.
These include the holding of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar or an increase in the workload on teams due to the change in the Champions League format.
From 2024, the main club tournament in Europe is planned to be held according to the new system, and Hypercube is also its developer.
As it turned out, many journalists were surprised by the fact that Hypercube did not offer to reduce the number of RPL participants.
Firstly, they have previously recommended this in Austria and Denmark, and secondly, in Russia a number of teams are annually experiencing serious problems with funding.
"There are several reasons for this. Look at your country. It is developed enough for 16 clubs to compete in its football championship ... Let's say you live in Nizhny Novgorod ... It's a big city. If it is not presented at the highest level, you lose money, opportunity, for the development of football ... Austria and Denmark are small states. They don't have enough regions to produce 12 decent teams. You have a big country. There are more than a hundred professional clubs here. We need to give an opportunity to develop, to move to another level of the pyramid, "- expressed the opinion of Newvenhuis.
Also, the head of Hypercube said that one of the points of the program to reform Russian football is to change the format of the limit for foreign players.
Thus, there was a proposal to abolish the restriction on inviting foreign players, but at the same time to introduce a “carrot and stick” system designed to encourage the development of young domestic athletes.
In particular, it envisages the creation of a general league fund, which will regulate the use of foreigners in matches.
So, for the use of legionnaires in matches, clubs may oblige to send money to a special fund, and not the number of players will be taken into account, but the number of minutes spent on the field.
Subsequently, these funds will be transferred to those teams that will give young Russians a chance, thereby stimulating them to develop their own pupils.
But as Newvenhays made it clear, at the moment, the development of a new project for the Russian championship is still far from complete. He agreed that some points needed to be finalized and even agreed to consider a few ideas. In particular, they talked about the formation of RPL quartets in accordance with a geographical feature, or on the basis of results over the past ten years. He also said that he had already discussed the reforms with representatives of the league clubs, but they were not unanimous on this issue.
“I have no authority to disclose what the clubs said. Among the teams of category A (Zenit, Krasnodar, CSKA, Spartak, Dynamo and Lokomotiv), five supported the reforms, one abstained. It is very important that the big teams agree. Naturally, we talked to others and not everyone supported these changes. But if you look at the questionnaires, the attitude is not so negative, ”Newvenhays said.