Financial Troubles Force Spartak Nalchik To Drop Out Of Russia's Second Tier

Russian football club Spartak Nalchik has decided to “pull out of the Russian National Football League, the second tier of Russia's professional football league, due to the club's ongoing financial woes,” according to Jaroslaw Adamowski of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. Kabardino-Balkaria Region Minister of Sports & Tourism Aslan Afaunov said that while the club's “professional squad will be dissolved, a new team will be formed from junior players.” The club's main sponsor, billionaire Arsen Kanokov, who “served as head of Kabardino-Balkaria from 2005 to 2013, has decided to cease funding Spartak following his resignation from the post.” Meanwhile, Spartak is not the only Russian club “facing relegation due to its financial problems.” Alania Vladikavkaz, Spartak's “rival from the second division, has been reportedly considering withdrawing from the Russian National Football League for the same reasons” (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 1/15).