By Vestnik Kavkaza
Yesterday a press conference of Director General of the Organizing Committee of the United Football League (UFL), Valery Gazaev, took place. It was devoted to the current state of Russian and Ukrainian football. During the event, Valery Gazaev presented the UFL project. The head of the UFL said that the main task is to create a joint championship of Russia and Ukraine, which has no analogue in the world.
According to Valery Gazaev, “a joint Russian-Ukrainian Championship is one of those large-scale projects that have no analogues either in European or world football. Therefore, the task of the organizing committee is to create a championship that would become one of the best championships in Europe. This task is the most important, the main reason why the organizing committee was created and why we work. We follow European football very closely. If we are to look at national championships in Europe, in fact they are divided into two groups. In the first group there are England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. And in the second group - all the rest. And, unfortunately, we need to understand that Russia and Ukraine belong to the second group.”
The first group differs from the second not only by the high quality of football, entertainment component, the full occupancy of the stands, but also financial stability. The most important thing, according to Gazayev, is the infrastructure at the highest organizational level, service and comfort for spectators, security, the state of the football pitches.
“What have been the great successes of Russian football over the past 20 years?” Gazayev asks. “Two victories in the UEFA Cup and, perhaps, this is it. To wait for another 20 years to have two more victories in the UEFA Cup or something else, probably, does not make sense. We need to do something. We need to change strategy, and most importantly to change the direction of football development. 70% of Russian clubs are subsidized and financed from regional budgets, in Ukraine the situation is a little bit better, because there all clubs are private. But there is another problem - 40 % of Ukrainian clubs have finished their existence. All professional football clubs should be private, they should be able to earn money and spend it.”
According to Gazayev, “today, the national federations have absolutely no system of financing. Therefore, all the stated objectives do not have any real financial basis. All federation funding depends on sponsors. If you have a sponsor, there is funding, no sponsors - no funding. Therefore, the development of football in Russia and Ukraine today is not at the preferred level. Fan interest is diminishing. If you look at the period between 2008 and the present day the TV audience has shrunk three-fold. As for the fans, only 40-50% of the stands are occupied. And we are well aware that of these 50% about 20% go without a ticket. What kind of income can we talk about here?”
Gazayev proposes establishing of the UFL: “First of all, we envision two professional leagues - a Premier League and a First Division. Both in the Premier League and in the First Division youth teams will play as secondary line-ups. How will they be formed? Everything is based on national quotas. We have chosen a tolerant scheme, I think it is the right decision. In my view, this scheme does not infringe anyone's interests, not just the interests of Ukraine and Russia but also the interests of the Federation, the interests of children and youth football and the veterans. We expect that in the Ukrainian and Russian football federation there will be four divisions, the winners of the four divisions determine the two best teams, and the same applies to Ukraine. Four teams take off and the four teams go into the first division… There is an exchange between Russian and Ukrainian clubs, but everything is based on national quotas.”
Speaking about a possible start of the UF, Gazayev states: “We expect that the 2014-15 year should be a year of transition. Until the end of the current season, before the month of May, we have to work out all the possible options. If there is any hesitation we will move it up for another year but in general we would like to see, based on the results of the 2014-15 year, the teams that will make the top Premier League and the First Division. Here we have to have some kind of perspective.”
