The latest deadline against the Russian Football Union to pay national coach Fabio Capello has "passed without action," according to the AP. Capello
last received his wages in June "amid financial problems at the RFU," and
Russian authorities set a deadline of Monday for him to be paid before
pursuing "possible legal action." The Russian Federal Labor & Employment Agency -- known by its "Russian abbreviation Rostrud" -- made "no
mention of any court case in a statement on Monday," saying only that it
would conduct an "unscheduled inspection" of the RFU to enforce demands
that Capello be paid. Under Russian law, RFU President Nikolai
Tolstykh could be "banned from his post for up to three years for failing
to pay an employee." He said on Tuesday that the RFU received an
unspecified amount of "extra funds" from FIFA last week that it "wanted
to use to pay Capello, but these were not enough to cover the whole
debt" (AP, 1/20). The EXPRESS TRIBUNE reported UEFA President Michel Platini on Tuesday urged the RFU to pay the wages owed to Capello. Platini: "Capello has never issued any complaints. But I don't think it's right that the RFU are not paying his wages. It's
bad publicity for Russian football ahead of the upcoming 2018 World
Cup. I recommend that the RFU move to solve this problem" (EXPRESS TRIBUNE, 1/20).
