Russian Premier League side Rostov's "financial windfall" from European competition -- where it has already beaten Bayern Munich and Eredivisie club Ajax -- "is one of the few things keeping the club solvent," according to Max Seddon of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Its "struggles, during which players and coaches have gone months at a time without pay, point to wider financial problems in Russian football ahead of next year’s World Cup, which Russia will host." Like 26 of the 36 teams in Russia’s top two divisions, Rostov is "owned by the local government; a further five are owned by state-run corporations." Two consecutive years of recession following the '14 oil price crash and western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict "have seen regional budgets take serious hits." Despite central government support, many regions "struggled to keep up with benefits payouts and public sector wages as revenue plummeted when oil prices bottomed out." State-supported sports teams "were among the first victims." Russian Football Federation exec committee member Igor Lebedev said, "It’s an expensive pleasure and it’s not always profitable. We have to pay for salaries, pensions, roads, and hospitals. If a region has to cut social spending then financing a football team is going to be the last thing they want to spend on." Deputy Governor In Charge of Sport Igor Guskov said that in Rostov, the local government appointed new management and "is taking steps to wean the team off state support." Guskov: "The main thing is for clubs to get away from budget money. Football should be a business" (FT, 3/10).
