“It remains to solve technical issues”: Chaly on the inclusion of Crimean clubs in the FNL and the budget of Sevastopol

- The Governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said that a final decision had been made on the participation of Crimean clubs in the FNL from next season.

You can be congratulated?

— The key event was the working meeting between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Chernyshenko.

On it, the Deputy Prime Minister gave the appropriate go-ahead.

It remains to wait for the verdict to be issued by the RFU and the FNL.

So far we have a statement at a high political level.

But there is also a national federation and a professional league.

That's when we pass the licensing and hand over all the necessary documents, then it will be possible to put an end to it.

But I am sure that now all processes will accelerate.

This is a truly significant day in the history of Crimean football.

- Is there a specific date when the FNL will officially take the clubs from the peninsula under its wing?

- Nail Izmailov (president of the league -

) came to Crimea.

I met and talked with him.

He already understands the situation we are in, met people, attended their matches.

The last time we saw him was on October 12 in Yalta at the game between Rubin-Yalta and Sevastopol.

Izmailov assured that work on the adoption of clubs is underway.

It remains to solve technical issues.

The most important thing now is to get the documents required for licensing.

- How are things going with the audit that the working group of the FNL was supposed to conduct on the peninsula?

- That's what I'm talking about.

We are just waiting for the commission's visit.

Izmailov promised that she would study how local leading clubs, including Sevastopol, function, how they live today and whether they are able to qualify for inclusion in the Russian professional league.

- Does your team have any difficulties

— We would join the FNL any day.

By and large, we are ready both for the arrival of the working group and for the passage of licensing.

There are some nuances, but these are working moments.

For example, people working in a club will need to obtain a special license.

- Does the SKS-Arena, where the team receives opponents, meet all the requirements?

- At one time, matches of the qualifying stage of the European Women's Championship were held on it, so there should be no problems.

The stands are in perfect order, the chairs have recently been changed.

Visors are present.

The dressing rooms are great.

Moreover, there is even a separate one for female judges.

The only catch is that the field is not in the best condition, which rugby players spoiled for us.

But this defect will be corrected by the 2023/24 season.

- Is it planned to strengthen the squad before the debut in the FNL?

Still, its level is much higher than the championship of the Crimea.

“We already have a pretty strong team.

But I don't know a single team in the world that doesn't get stronger before the new championship.

First you need to understand what league we are talking about.

We will start in FNL-1 or FNL-2, it will depend on the decision of the leaders.

But while the conversation with Izmailov was about FNL-2.

I think we can take it easy.

But for FNL-1, completely different finances are needed.

Imagine how much money it would take to fly regularly across the country, given the closure of the airport in Simferopol.

Continuing the conversation about the equipment, we will carry out targeted work on strengthening, as in any other club, but the existing backbone will remain.

In this regard, the Crimean players will face another problem.

The fact is that UEFA takes a tough stance on this issue and refuses to recognize them as Russians even if they have passports, so, apparently, they will have to declare the guys as Ukrainians.

This is doubly strange also because the vast majority were born in the Crimea, while Ukraine prevented them from obtaining football documents.

- In connection with the possible acquisition of a professional status, do the players or their agents contact you who would like to defend the honor of Sevastopol in the FNL?

“There are only two people from the mainland in our team.

The rest are local students.

And we are not going to deviate from this line.

We play for our fans, and they know all our guys very well, because they are either from Sevastopol or have been living in the city for a long time.

At the same time, we are talking about high-class masters.

Some even played in the Ukrainian Premier League.

But other teams do not develop football in the Crimea.

Their compositions are 90% formed from visitors.

But there are a lot of talented performers here.

Alexey Kashtanov is now scoring for Ural, but he started at Kyzyltash from Bakhchisaray.

Vladimir Sychevoi leads the RPL scorer race, and played for Krymteplitsa.

Spartak defender Daniil Khlusevich was born in Simferopol.

Players are simply stolen from us, because the Crimean Premier League is de jure an amateur competition.

Football players here work not even under contracts, but under ordinary employment contracts.

That is, to break them, it is enough to write a letter of resignation and wait two weeks.

- Will inclusion in the FNL help solve this problem?

- This will give a tremendous impetus to the development of not only professional football on the peninsula, but also youth football, since it is also at a low level.

The guys do not have the opportunity to compete with their peers from Russia and are stewing in their own juice, and the teams do not play anywhere.

They need normal competition and official tournaments, where teenagers can, among other things, receive ranks and titles.

— And what about the infrastructure?

- In Sevastopol, she is in perfect order.

For example, another stadium has recently opened.

Artificial turf is laid regularly.

This is even a plus, since such a surface is not afraid of heat, and at the same time, one match after another can be played on it.

We have never had this.

Children in the city are very fond of football, but due to the lack of professional clubs, they have almost no chance to break through to the top and build a professional career.

Now the guys will not need to leave the peninsula.

In addition, they will have the opportunity to travel with their teams around the country and draw attention to their personas.

Yes, and football schools will begin to receive money for pupils.

- Is it planned to increase the budget for FNL-2?

- Naturally.

Fortunately, the founder of Sevastopol is the City Government, and Mikhail Razvozhaev perfectly understands all our problems.

Now it is difficult for us to agree with partners, because the club has nothing.

But the government can do it.

For example, they found a title sponsor there.

Getting a professional status will make this task easier.

We will also get the opportunity to earn on the players.

Just for fun, I calculated that in five years ten players were actually stolen from us in the amount of about € 1.5 million. This is the most conservative estimate if you just open the Transfermarkt portal.

- What budget is required for a decent performance in FNL-2?

“We haven’t counted yet, but we have studied what is written in the media.

Approximately 100 million rubles are needed.

I have no right to disclose the club's budget, but the licensing requirements include an amount of 20-30 million rubles per season.

We have that kind of money.

But this is not enough and only enough for the team to just play.

- In connection with the upcoming debut in the Russian professional league, is a football boom expected in the city?

- Players and fans, to be honest, are tired of stewing in their own juice.

When the local Premier League was just launched, 2-2.5 thousand people came to the stadium.

Now it's going to be half as much.

And the recent meeting with TSK-Tavria was visited even less, although it is a principal rival.

Interest is falling.

Well, we take the title, and then what?

We don't go out anywhere, but we're marking time.

Now the attitude of people will change, because the clubs will reach a fundamentally different level and, in addition, they will have the opportunity to move up in the class.

Of course, a lot will depend on funding.

If you set yourself serious tasks, you need to recruit the appropriate staff.

But even without a lot of money, you can perform with dignity.

And in Sevastopol we have one goal under any conditions - to take first place.