“Out of the question”: why most experts oppose the expansion of the RPL in the 2022/23 season

On Tuesday, May 24, a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Russian Football Union will be held, at which the format of the Premier League for the next season will be approved.

Several options for reforming the RPL will be on the agenda, including its expansion to 18 teams.

This option assumes that none of the clubs will leave the elite division following the results of the completed championship, and two teams from the FNL will additionally join it.

In addition, the possibility of introducing a moratorium on “departure” and “entry” will be discussed.

The corresponding proposal was made by the general meeting of the RPL back in March, when, due to permission from FIFA and UEFA, legionnaires began to leave Russian clubs.

For example, Rubin and Rostov lost six players each, while nine players and the coaching staff headed by Daniel Farke left Krasnodar at once.

During the March discussion, ten clubs supported the relegation moratorium, while five opposed it.

But the executive committee of the RFU rejected the initiative as not corresponding to the sports principle.

Then the head of the organization, Alexander Dyukov, noted that the final decision would be made in May.

RPL President Ashot Khachaturyants supported the idea to wait until the end of the championship.

“As the president of the league, I represent the teams.

If the majority of the teams vote for an increase, then I can't help but support it.

But under any other circumstances it would be unacceptable.

We do not know how we will finish the championship, how many clubs will be ready to play next season.

This is an extraordinary situation, ”said the specialist.

On the eve of the May meeting of the executive committee of the RFU, representatives of the clubs gathered again to discuss their views on the moratorium.

According to CSKA General Director Roman Babaev, their position has not changed: those who do not want to increase the number of teams in the RPL are still in the minority.

In recent days, the leadership of Rubin Kazan, which, following the results of the championship, flew directly to the FNL, hopes more than others for the introduction of a moratorium.

According to the general director of the club, Rustem Saymanov, Kazan suffered the most from the loss of foreign players, and therefore, in order to comply with the sports principle, it is necessary to keep the team in the Premier League.

“On May 19, we discussed this situation.

And now we are waiting for the decision of the RFU.

I sincerely hope that it can be accepted.

We have not disbanded the team,” said the general director of Rubin at a press conference on May 23.

At the same time, many experts were categorically against the moratorium on relegation and expansion of the league.

So, the Secretary General of the RFU and the President of the FNL, Alexander Alaev, spoke very categorically on this score.

He noted that such major changes should not be made in a hurry and in parallel with the end of the season.

“If such a decision is made, it must be economically justified.

The expansion will affect the entire football ecosystem.

You need to have financial accounts for it.

It must be adopted in advance, be prepared, plus the regulations must be approved in advance, ”Championship” quotes Alaev as saying.

Spartak Moscow actively opposes the increase in the RPL.

So, the general director of the red and white Yevgeny Melezhikov called it an economically unreasonable step.

He noted that, according to a study by the Dutch company Hypercube, an arithmetic increase in the number of participants is the worst possible reform option.

“I understand that economic issues may only concern our club, but everyone will still have to disentangle the consequences of this destructive decision.

For us personally, it will not give us anything but two home matches with low interest and two costly trips.

In addition, the relegation moratorium is a violation of the sporting principle.

The only beneficiaries are the teams threatened by the FNL, ”Melezhikov said on the eve of the 30th round of the RPL.

Instead of increasing the number of participants, the leadership of the red-whites proposed to divide the tournament into two eights, which would increase the number of status matches, add intrigue and have a positive impact on commercial income.

Melezhikov considers holding the League Cup another possible option.

Former Dynamo head coach Andrei Kobelev also spoke out against the expansion.

In his opinion, the end of the current season turned out to be bright and rich, and with more teams there will be no such intrigue.

“This season was very interesting: there was a fierce struggle in the championship, in the last round for relegation.

From this I would like to conclude that it is not necessary to increase the number of teams and thereby create a swamp.

The team concedes in the 92nd minute and runs the risk of being relegated from the Premier League, and already in the 102nd minute it has a chance to stay, ”the specialist recalled about the course of the Rubin-Ufa match.

However, in the football environment there are those who advocate the expansion of the league.

For example, the well-known coach Valery Nepomniachtchi believes that under the current conditions this will allow for a more full-fledged championship.

“Firstly, in connection with the removal of Russia from international tournaments, we have about 50 game days freed up in the calendar, which can and should be used.

Secondly, there was a chance to create conditions for the development of professional teams not only in the central part of the country, but also beyond the Urals.

This is not only the RPL, but also the FNL and the FNL-2 teams, ”the former Tom head coach said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, he believes that a moratorium on relegation without an increase in the number of clubs in the league would be wrong, because the first and second teams of the FNL won the right to enter the elite in a fair fight.

In addition, the specialist agrees with the position of Spartak that a simple increase in the number of participants is not economically feasible and supports the proposal of the red-whites to split the league into two divisions.

“Speaking of expansion, I mean the need to completely change the structure of the championship.

To have more matches of teams that claim high places.

You can think about dividing the tournament into two groups, introducing playoff games.

Of course, we must think about how the teams make money.

There is a huge field of activity for officials to think about how to change our championship so that it is both spectacular and profitable,” Nepomniachtchi explained.

There is another important point that can play a role in the final verdict - television rights.

In 2021, Match TV signed a contract with the RPL to broadcast the Russian Championship on unprecedented terms.

According to media reports, in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, the league will receive 6.6 billion rubles each, in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons - 7.7 billion each. For comparison, under the previous contract, the league was due only 1 .7 billion rubles a year.

However, the management of the National Sports TV Channel, which operates Match TV, turned out to be unhappy with the prospect of an increase in the number of broadcasts due to the expansion of the league.

“The position of the NST is such that at the moment we have a valid contract with the RPL, as well as an agreement that comes into force from the beginning of next season and is designed for four years.

The above change in the format of the championship will be the basis for a downward revision of the cost of the license agreement,” Vasily Konov, Deputy General Producer of Match TV, wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to RB Sport, most of the leadership of the RFU, including President Alexander Dyukov, also opposes the expansion of the championship.

And indirect confirmation that the executive committee will not accept it can be considered the fact that the dates for the play-offs between the teams of the RPL and the FNL can be considered.

This was also stated by the honorary president of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov.

“There is no need to fantasize and engage in nonsense.

The Russian Football Union, the organization responsible for hosting all competitions in the country, has already set dates for the play-offs.

Therefore, expanding the league to 18 teams is out of the question.

The issue has been resolved, the topic must be closed, ”said the TASS functionary.