Russia football officials speculate a football Super League "featuring the best teams from Russia and Ukraine could be launched in '14," according to RUSSIA TODAY. The idea of starting something similar to ice hockey’s KHL in football was first voiced by Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller and it "seems to be gaining popularity among Russia’s top football officials." The replacement for the Russian Premier League is "primarily aimed at attracting more interest in the competition and consequently increasing the clubs’ revenue to help them meet new UEFA financial fair play rules." CSKA Moscow President Evgeny Giner suggested the league’s first season could be played in '14-15 at the earliest. Representatives of Zenit St. Petersburg, Anzhi Makhachkala and the Russian Premier League "also backed the plans." A study group is "expected be set up by the end of the year" to design a format for the new league and decide which countries should be included. Contrary to some earlier reports, Russian football bosses said that the new league would "neither be a championship for the CIS union of post-Soviet states, nor a franchise system like basketball’s NBA or ice hockey’s NHL" (RT, 12/14).
