Russian football is banned from international football, Russia’s rich will fade out of European football?
Author: Tong Xin
[ 2003年，阿布拉莫维奇斥资6000万英镑买下了英超球队切尔西，并承担了俱乐部8000万英镑的债务。他的经营决策对英超的竞争格局产生了极大的刺激，推动了英超进入金元时代。 ]
In the early morning of March 1, FIFA and UEFA officially announced that the Russian national football team and Russian domestic league clubs were disqualified from participating in international competitions.
Affected by this, the Russian team will miss the Qatar World Cup held at the end of the year. Russia was due to face Poland in the first leg of the World Cup qualifying European play-offs on March 25 and compete for a World Cup ticket with the winner between Sweden and the Czech Republic.
The Russian Football Federation said in a statement that it opposed the decision made by FIFA and UEFA. The statement said the decision affects a large number of athletes, coaches, clubs, team staff and fans whose interests should be the priority of all international sports organisations.
Russian national team and club suspended
Official schedule records show that Russia’s next game will be against Albania in the UEFA Nations League B level on June 3. Whether the game will go smoothly by then is yet to be seen.
The Russian women’s football team has already qualified for the Women’s European Championship in July, but their qualification will be replaced by Portugal.
The Europa League quarter-finals, the Bundesliga team Leipzig’s match against Sparta Moscow, originally scheduled to be held on March 10 and March 17, will also not be held. The official response of the Moscow Spartan Club stated that it believes that sports can also become a bridge connecting people in the most difficult times. In the future, it will focus on domestic competitions and look forward to the early realization of the peace that everyone needs.
This year marks the centennial of the Spartak Moscow team. This veteran team founded in the Soviet Union has a coaching staff from Italy, as well as foreign aid from France, Brazil, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and other countries. They finished first in Group C in this season’s Europa League group stage, but couldn’t get any further. They are currently ninth in the Russian Super League.
After FIFA and UEFA announced the decision to suspend the game, football associations such as Germany, Ireland, Canada, the United States, Finland, Spain, Iceland, and Poland announced that they would refuse to play against the Russian team. Some national football federations also announced that they would also refuse to play against Belarus. Benefiting from the suspension penalty, the Polish team will directly advance to the European play-off final of the World Cup qualifiers.
The latest report from the German media “Bild” said that the German Football Association will not ban Russian foreign players from continuing to play in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga. Despite some social pressure, these Russian players can still play in European leagues.
In the Russian league, some foreign players and foreign coaches began to worry about their future. The 52-year-old German Gistor, the coach of the Russian Super League Lokomotiv Moscow team, announced his resignation. He told Bild: “Continuing to do this job is not in line with personal values.” According to the statistics of the Polish media sport PR, there are 130 players in the top Russian league. Foreign Ball, with Ukrainian players in awkward positions, has refused to participate in training and matches. South Korean international Hwang In-beom, who plays for the Kazan Rubies, is seriously considering changing jobs, according to South Korean media Naver Daily.
Multinational media have reported that the International Football Players Association proposed to FIFA that a special policy should be issued to allow foreign aid and foreign coaches in Russia to obtain free transfer qualifications in order to leave the Russian league.
The era of Russian capital in football may come to an end
The past 20 years have been the peak period for Russian capital to go overseas and invest in the football industry. Led by Abramovich, the owner of the Premier League Chelsea Club and a wealthy Russian businessman, Russian businessmen have been deeply involved in European football.
In 2002, the Israeli agent Zahavi provided Abramovich with a ticket for Manchester United to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals. In the end, Manchester United defeated Real Madrid 4-3. This experience of watching the game made Abramovich. Movic became obsessed with the glamour of football.
Shortly after, Abramovich bought the Premier League team Chelsea for 60 million pounds and took on the club’s 80 million pounds of debt, and began his journey to the top European football world. Relying on the strong financial resources of up to 14.5 billion US dollars, Abramovich dared to invest money for the team, buying well-known stars and signing contracts with top coaches many times. His business decisions have greatly stimulated the competitive landscape of the Premier League and pushed the Premier League into the golden dollar era.
After twists and turns, Abramovich’s management of Chelsea has gradually entered a mature mode, irrational transfer transactions and dismissal of coaches have decreased, and the team’s competitiveness has steadily improved. As of January this year, when they won the Club World Cup, Abramovich’s Chelsea had won 21 titles. Chelsea have become one of the most successful and popular teams in the world, and they are also very profitable, with revenue of £400m last season.
On February 26, Chelsea Club’s Chinese official website suddenly released a statement from owner Roman Abramovich. The statement said Abramovich had handed over the management of the club to the trustees of Chelsea Charities. Abramović said: “I have always seen myself as the manager of the club and my job is to ensure we have the greatest possible success while building the future and playing an active role in the community. When making decisions, I always With the best interests of the club at heart. I remain committed to these values, so today I am giving the management of Chelsea FC to the trustees of a charitable foundation who I believe will now be in the best position to look after the club, players, staff and the interests of the fans.”
Abramovich has not expressed any intention to sell the team, but he will no longer interfere in the team’s decision-making. Abramovich’s turn and departure marked the end of the era of Russian capital entering European football in a big way. Two days later, Chelsea lost to Liverpool on penalties in the England League Cup final.
In 2013, the rich Russian businessman Rybonovlev with a net worth of US$7.3 billion bought the French Monaco team and invested more than 300 million euros to buy players. Usmanov, with a net worth of $13 billion, acquired a 14.58% stake in the Premier League Arsenal team in 2007 and became the team’s second largest shareholder. He once wanted to invest 1 billion pounds to buy the largest shareholder Kroenke. stake and become the real owner of Arsenal. In 2011, Russian chemical businessman Maxim Deming bought a 50% stake in Bournemouth, England, and later became the owner of the club. The team was promoted to the Premier League in 2015 and ranked high in the Championship this season. Hope to go to the Premier League again.
In addition to some wealthy businessmen who are interested in football investing in clubs, Russian companies have also sponsored major events such as the Champions League for a long time. Chinese fans are very familiar with the Gazprom commercial broadcast on the UEFA Champions League live broadcast, which uses Tchaikovsky’s music and features conductor Gergiev, pianist Matsuev and the Mariinsky Theatre A scene from a ballet performance.
According to UEFA’s official news, its business cooperation with Gazprom has been terminated. The contract involves the Champions League, European national team competitions and the 2024 European Cup. The original sponsorship amount is 40 million euros per year.
On February 28, Schalke 04, a former Bundesliga giant and now participating in the Bundesliga, announced the early termination of its 15-year partnership with its sponsor Gazprom. The original sponsorship amount was 10 million euros per year. According to the German media “Kicker”, the local real estate company Vivawest will become the new sponsor of Schalke 04, and the company’s social media account has followed the official social media account of Schalke 04.
According to The Sun, Premier League giants Manchester United have also terminated their sponsorship contract with Aeroflot, which had lasted for nine years. When the two sides signed the contract in 2017, the sponsorship amount was as high as 40 million pounds, and the contract period was 5 years. At present, the advertising boards near Manchester United’s home stadium Old Trafford have been removed. Qatar Airways is reportedly expected to take over the sponsorship.
The impact of Russian capital on the world football industry pattern is expected to continue for some time. The 2018 World Cup in Russia has driven up to 13.2 billion US dollars in investment in the renovation of various facilities in Russia, and fans from various countries have brought a total of 3 billion US dollars of income to Russia. FIFA also earned $8 billion in the World Cup, including $64 million in sponsorships from local Russian companies. If the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict continues for a long time, there may be no Russian elements in the Qatar World Cup held at the end of the year.
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Responsible editor: Qi Qiqi