The Russian Football Union (RFS) has proposed salary caps for all tiers of the football league against the backdrop of the news that UEFA accused Russian Premier League squad Dinamo Moscow of breaching the break-even requirement.
RFS has come up with a document stipulating the enforcement of financial fair play in all Russian football leagues. According to the document, salary caps that will be introduced will also apply to bonuses and all other forms of extra payments for players. Professional Union of Footballers and Coaches (PSFT) Exec Dir Vladimir Leonchenko told SBD Global, "The arrival of the document was triggered by the current economic conditions, which are unfavorable. However, we've been speaking about the necessity of financial fair play since 2008 as we see that football clubs' revenues are no longer growing, while their expenses continue to increase."
According to Leonchenko, it is important that the document stipulates control instruments for financial fair play, but it is even more important to create incentives for clubs to develop players and then sell them at a profit. Clubs currently spend huge amounts of money on transfer fees and players' salaries but hardly ever make money on selling players.
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: Almost at the same time as when the RFS revealed the document, UEFA said that Dinamo did not observe the break-even rule and has been referred to the Adjudicatory Chamber for punishment.
The idea of a salary cap in Russian football was first mentioned last year as it was proposed for the second-tier league. However, the economic conditions in the country have severely worsened, which has had an impact on sports.
Club owners themselves have complained that budgets have been blown out of proportion and are in no way commensurate with the squads' performances.
Vladimir Yakunin, head of the Russian Railways, and the owner of the football club Lokomotiv Moscow, was recently quoted by the Russian newspaper Kommersant as saying that the squad was able to win the league back in '04 on a budget of $20M but has been unable to earn a Champions League slot in recent years on a budget of about €120M.
Vladimir Kozlov is a writer in Moscow.
