“A compromise option has been found”: RPL clubs have decided to abandon the creation of the League Cup

"We decided to keep the bird in our hands"

The general meeting of RPL clubs scheduled for July 14 promised to be historic.

It was on it that a day before the start of the new season (if you do not take into account the match for the Super Bowl) a decision could be made to revive the League Cup.

The tournament was intended to replace the European cups for teams and promised high bonuses.

According to media reports, the total fund was supposed to be about 3 billion rubles.

However, even before the start of the event, it became known that the competition would most likely not be approved.

Allegedly, the RFU came out sharply against it, which turned out to be dissatisfied with the fact that the Cup of Russia, which has a significantly smaller prize fund, in fact, will become the country's third-ranked tournament.

The main broadcaster of the league, Match TV, also spoke negatively, threatening to revise the terms of the current contract in the event of the creation of the RPL Cup.

“This will negatively affect the media attractiveness of the Russian Football Championship and the Russian Football Cup, which will entail corresponding consequences for all parties involved,” the channel’s management emphasized.

As a result, the clubs really considered the establishment of the League Cup at the moment inappropriate.

Instead, it was decided to reform another tournament - the Cup of Russia.

Acting head of the league Alexander Alaev noted that the audience listened to the report of the head of the working group and unanimously expressed their desire to apply to the Russian Football Union with the idea of ​​updating the tournament, taking into account the proposals made for the RPL Cup and approving its format by the end of August.

“We will send everything to the RFU.

We will negotiate with our partners together.

Of course, we would like to keep the finances that we had.

I am sure that the updated Cup of Russia can turn out to be an interesting tournament, ”the Championship official quotes.

He also explained why the idea of ​​creating the RPL Cup turned out to be difficult to implement.

According to Alaev, his organization would have to be coordinated with law enforcement agencies and partners.

At the same time, he called the amount of 3 billion rubles, which appeared in the press, incorrect, and stressed that no one was going to “rob” the clubs.

“I repeat once again, the task is to take all the developments in the competition, agree with all existing partners and make this figure as high as possible,” the head of the RPL emphasized.

He promised in the near future to hold negotiations on the continuation of cooperation with the BetCity betting company, which has acted as the title sponsor for the past two years.

“You have to respect the current partner.

We have come a long way.

The contract is valid for another year.

There are potential partners who want to become sponsors of the updated Russian Cup.

But first of all, we will negotiate with BetCity,” Alaev stressed.

In addition, he once again confirmed that the winner of the Media League "2DROTS" and another well-known media team "Amkal" will take part in the new draw of the tournament.

The functionary explained this by the desire to provide an opportunity to prove themselves to amateur teams.

At the same time, representatives of the clubs refused to call what happened at the general meeting a “raider takeover” of the competition.

So, the general director of Spartak, Evgeny Melezhikov, noted that a way out was found that suited both the members of the RPL and the RFU.

“We couldn't make a decision without the federation.

I think that a compromise option has now been found that suits both the RFU and the league and will allow us to jointly work out the issue of the distribution of those incomes that are declared, ”Melezhikov expressed his point of view.

One of the ideologists for the creation of the RPL Cup, CSKA General Director Roman Babaev, also did not see a problem in the final decision, since all proposals for a new tournament will be taken into account when reorganizing the Russian Cup: a two-way system, the presence of upper and lower tournament brackets.

“When, if not now, to try to experiment and improve the situation that we have.

But this path is quite controversial.

There might not have been enough time.

Speaking figuratively, this is a crane in the sky, and we decided to keep the titmouse in our hands, ”explained Babaev.

“The task is to return the fans to the stands”

In addition to the intention to reform the Russian Cup, the participants made another important decision - they made changes to the distribution of RPL income between clubs.

Now the funds will be paid according to the 50/50 formula, in which the first part depends on the place taken, and the second part is divided equally from the general fund.

“15 teams supported this system, one voted against and suggested leaving 60/40,” Alaev emphasized.

Babaev called the changes an attempt to find a compromise and explained it as a desire to help less powerful clubs during a difficult period, when they, in particular, risk losing part of their ticket sales due to the introduction of Fan ID.

Alaev did not bypass this topic in a conversation with journalists.

According to him, a technical meeting was recently held with representatives of the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Digital Development, the federal government, and clubs.

“Work is getting better.

Mintsifra daily tries to optimize the technical part.

We hope that a fan from any region will be able to issue a document, ”said the functionary.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that in the future all football fans will accept the innovation and begin to treat it more calmly.

But due to discontent from the fans, Alaev predicted a decrease in attendance.

“We live in a time when we need to work with what we have… They will say that restrictions are being lifted, that’s great.

My task now is to make the Fan ID issue transparent to everyone, and the fans to return to the stands, ”added the functionary.

At the same time, the leadership of domestic football continues to work actively to allow the sale of beer at stadiums.

According to Alaev, the State Duma deputies had several comments on the draft, but they plan to return to its consideration in the autumn session.