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| Russia plans football super-league for post-Soviet region | Russia plans football super-league for post-Soviet region |
| (10 days later) | |
| Moscow is pressing on with plans to create a regional football super-league, despite the likely withdrawal of Ukraine from the scheme. Preliminary proposals call for the super league to have at least 32 teams, divided into two tiers. The teams would be drawn mainly from Russia’s own Premier League, but clubs from Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan also reportedly figure in the scheme. | |
| Initially, prominent Ukrainian clubs, including Shakhtar Donetsk, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Metalist Kharkiv had been included, but that was before Kiev-Moscow relations deteriorated earlier this year. | Initially, prominent Ukrainian clubs, including Shakhtar Donetsk, Dynamo Kyiv, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Metalist Kharkiv had been included, but that was before Kiev-Moscow relations deteriorated earlier this year. |
| A model for the football project is the Kontinental Hockey League, which was formed in 2008 and comprises 21 Russian teams with lone representatives from other formerly communist states, including Latvia, Kazakhstan, the Czech Republic and Croatia. Club representatives from two regional football powerhouses, CSKA Moscow and Ukraine’s FC Shakhtar Donetsk, first started kicking around the idea of forming a super league back in in 2010, according to Alexandr Polyakov, a prominent Russian football commentator and a contributing editor at the football website chempionat.com. | |
| In 2012, Russian officials decided to form an organising committee, though the project is still in the planning stages. Polyakov said he has played a consultative role in the discussions since then. He believes the project is at least partly political. | In 2012, Russian officials decided to form an organising committee, though the project is still in the planning stages. Polyakov said he has played a consultative role in the discussions since then. He believes the project is at least partly political. |
| “[President Vladimir] Putin wants it. It’s a priority for him,” said Polyakov, citing a source within the presidential administration of Russia. | “[President Vladimir] Putin wants it. It’s a priority for him,” said Polyakov, citing a source within the presidential administration of Russia. |
| Most of the countries involved in the plans for the football super league also figure prominently in an economic project that is being advanced by the Kremlin. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are already members of the Eurasian Economic Union, which is set to become operational on 1 January 2015. Armenia is expected to sign on by the end of the year. | Most of the countries involved in the plans for the football super league also figure prominently in an economic project that is being advanced by the Kremlin. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are already members of the Eurasian Economic Union, which is set to become operational on 1 January 2015. Armenia is expected to sign on by the end of the year. |
| Putin wants it. It’s a priority for him | Putin wants it. It’s a priority for him |
| Ukraine was also expected to be a charter member of the EEU, but that was before the Euromaidan movement pushed Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, from power in February, followed by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March. | Ukraine was also expected to be a charter member of the EEU, but that was before the Euromaidan movement pushed Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, from power in February, followed by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March. |
| Ongoing tension between Ukraine and Russia has dashed any hope of Kiev signing up for the EEU. These days, Ukrainian leaders in Kiev are more interested in pursuing integration with the European Union than they are in closer ties with Russia. The fallout has likewise scuttled the possibility of Ukrainian clubs joining a Russia-led football super league, Polyakov said. “Political tension makes Ukrainian participation impossible,” he added. But members of the Russian organising committee have not given up on the idea. Valery Gazzaev, a former manager of CSKA Moscow and the man who leads the committee, believes the project can move ahead on a smaller scale, with teams coming from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan – countries that are currently part of the EEU. “Right now clubs from Belarus and Kazakhstan are expressing real interest in taking part in a unified football league,” Gazzaev said in comments posted in the organising committee’s official website last week. “The potential of our [super league] project is similar to the potential of the Eurasian Economic Union. We are aiming to form one of the leading leagues in Europe.” | |
| We are aiming to form one of the leading leagues in Europe | We are aiming to form one of the leading leagues in Europe |
| Gazzaev and others even retain hopes that Ukrainian teams will one day play in a super league. Polyakov said organisers want to revisit the idea of Ukrainian participation, “but nobody knows when.” | Gazzaev and others even retain hopes that Ukrainian teams will one day play in a super league. Polyakov said organisers want to revisit the idea of Ukrainian participation, “but nobody knows when.” |
| If the aim is truly to turn a Eurasian super league into one of the strongest in the Uefa zone, then Ukrainian participation would presumably be essential. The level of play in the domestic leagues of Belarus and Kazakhstan are far lower than in Russia. | If the aim is truly to turn a Eurasian super league into one of the strongest in the Uefa zone, then Ukrainian participation would presumably be essential. The level of play in the domestic leagues of Belarus and Kazakhstan are far lower than in Russia. |
| The Russian national team is currently 19th in the Fifa world rankings, and will be playing in the World Cup tournament starting today in Brazil. Belarus, meanwhile, checks in at 82nd in the Fifa rankings, while Kazakhstan lags behind in 124th place. | The Russian national team is currently 19th in the Fifa world rankings, and will be playing in the World Cup tournament starting today in Brazil. Belarus, meanwhile, checks in at 82nd in the Fifa rankings, while Kazakhstan lags behind in 124th place. |
| Ukraine’s national team is currently ranked higher than Russia, at 16th, even though it did not qualify for the World Cup finals. | Ukraine’s national team is currently ranked higher than Russia, at 16th, even though it did not qualify for the World Cup finals. |
| Gazprom is passionate about football | Gazprom is passionate about football |
| According to Polyakov, the super league initiative is supported by Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled energy conglomerate. Gazprom already has sponsorship deals with some of Europe’s top football clubs, including Zenit St Petersburg, Germany’s Schalke, and Chelsea, in the English Premier League. "Gazprom is not only the largest gas company in the world, but also one of those most passionate about football,” Gazprom’s CEO Alexey Miller states on the Gazprom-Football website. |