The Russian Football Union (RFS) announced a proposal for financial regulations aimed at improving Russian football clubs' financial standing and stipulating salary caps for professional players in a move that, according to industry observers, is positive but needs fine-tuning. The document mandates the introduction of salary caps of 150,000 rubles ($2,300) a month for players under 21, 3M rubles ($4,700) for players between 21 and 23, and 2M rubles ($31,000) for those over 23. "Following its amending and adoption as of 2016, the RFS financial regulations are set to have a long-term positive impact on clubs' operation, being basically a 'light' version of UEFA financial fair play," RFS said on its website.
ADDING AMENDMENTS: Now the document is to be considered by the Russian Football Premier League and its clubs, after which amendments are to be made. An amended version needs to be adopted by RFS' exec committee. "The very fact that the issue of financial regulations is being discussed is already a step forward," Vladimir Leonchenko, exec director of the Professional Union of Footballers And Coaches (PSFT), told SBD Global. However, according to Leonchenko, the proposal does not address one major issue of clubs' financial guarantees for contracts they sign with players, and it is not clear who is going to enforce the regulations once they are adopted. He said, "As for the salaries, they are already going down anyway, as clubs have to save in a crisis situation." Still, salaries at most Premier League clubs are currently considerably above the $31,000 a month figure.
Vladimir Kozlov is a writer in Moscow.
