Gazprom CEO plans Russian-Ukrainian super league

It sounds like a trip back in time to the Cold War years, when the old Soviet league featured teams from across the former USSR, from Spartak Moscow to Dnipro. But Sergei Pryadkin, the head of the Russian Premier League, has suggested that the 16 teams in the Russian Premier League and the 14 sides in Ukraine’s top flight will merge to form one united Eastern European league, which could in the years to follow, bring in sides from the other former countries of the Soviet Union. This league could even start as early as next autumn.

The proposal is being resisted by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who has labelled the idea “impossible.”

While the objection of world football’s governing body would usually kill a fledgling idea in its tracks, this is a plan which has seriously high level backing from some of the most important people in Russia, who have leverage in world football circles. The links go all the way up to Vladimir Putin, the country’s all powerful President.

UEFA, for its part, is waiting to see if an agreement emerges from discussions between clubs in Russia and Ukraine.

An Atlantic league involving teams from Scotland, Portugal and the Netherlands was rejected in 2001.

In 2005 FIFA and UEFA consented to a new league involving leading clubs in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, although the competition has not been played since 2007 and did not replace domestic leagues, a key stipulation.

It is also worth noting that a Welsh side, Swansea City, will compete in UEFA’s Europa League having qualified for the competition via an English domestic cup competition. England’s Premier League could well have two Welsh teams participating in it by the time next season rolls around.

There are Canadian teams in the United States’ Major Soccer League, and the second richest team in French football come from a principality that is not part of France (Monaco).

However last year, something called the BeNe League was created with UEFA consent. This was an amalgamation of the top teams in Belgian and Dutch women’s football.

A precedent has therefore been set, although when contacted, UEFA point out that this league is in a three year trial period, giving them political space to reverse into if necessary.

But crucially, they left the door open to the idea of a Russian-Ukrainian league merger.

The big difference between the latest idea and other proposed mergers is that this one would replace the top leagues in Russian and Ukrainian football, resembling a sizeable leap for UEFA, who will be concerned by the lurking spectre of the possibility of Europe’s top teams breaking away to form a super league. The proliferation of ‘super leagues’ is a threat to them.

Major financial backing
So what is the motivation for such a scheme? As usual it is the familiar issue of money. Russian and Ukrainian football boast between them some of Europe’s richest teams, a compendium of billionaire owners, yet the actual revenues generated by their respective leagues are comparatively pitiful.

With Gazprom offering to sponsor the new league with €1 billion a year, the financial backing is impressive. Only the English Premier League would be able to generate bigger revenues. As such, Zenit, CSKA Moscow and Anzhi Makhachkala, the most enthusiastic supporters of the idea, are all supportive, in no small part thanks to the fact that they may otherwise struggle to meet UEFA’s new financial fair play rules, which limit club spending over rolling three year periods.

The Financial Times have quoted club owners of Ukrainian teams, including Shakhtar’s Rinat Akhmetov, discussing the advantages of a merger, whilst Belarussian outfit BATE Borisov are reportedly keen to be involved.

And UEFA may actually quite like an idea which at its heart is about making clubs more solvent. Evgeny Giner, the owner of CSKA Moscow, says that “attendances would increase several times… clubs could make much more money from television.”

Gazprom, the Russian energy giant whose financial backing has turned Zenit St Petersburg into a force, are fundamental to these plans. They are influential in European circles, as a sponsor of two of the continent’s major sides – German outfit Schalke 04 and Premier League Chelsea.

But more significant perhaps is their deal, struck last year, to sponsor the UEFA Champions League. That gives them leverage.

It is also worth noting that Miller, the deputy chairman of Gazprom, is an ally of Putin.

Opposition from within Russia
However, there is opposition in some quarters. From within Russia it comes from the likes of Terek Grozny, another of Russia’s extremely wealthy sides, whose vice-president Khaidar Alkhanov has said that it is a “crazy idea.”

“What is the goal of people promoting this idea?” Alkhanov asks. “Is it our league they don’t like? Or our country?”

Terek have understandable concerns – they would be in contention to be one of the ‘lucky’ 15 competing in the second tier of the new super league, deprived of most of the financial pie on offer for those playing in the top division alongside the likes of Zenit, CSKA Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Similar sentiments to Alkahnov’s could be detected from Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Sports Minister, who has called the idea a non starter, whilst teams from Azerbaijan and Georgia have stated their reluctance to take part in such a league.

Ukraine remains cautious, but open to the idea - one of their teams attended a key meeting last week with Miller and other Russian teams.

Ultimately, money usually talks though and the case in point in this situation is Spartak Moscow, who were initially reluctant to go along with the plans.

However their owner Leonid Fedun, after attending a meeting between Russian sides and a Ukrainian club, was blunt and honest in explaining their subsequent u-turn:

“When I heard the budget per year was €1 billion I changed my mind and decided to attend. You can’t miss a chance to be the part of that game.”

He is unlikely to be alone in making such a u-turn. Spartak Moscow currently run their business operations at a deficit, and this new league would turn them to profit. Yet this is essentially an extremely creative way to avoid falling foul of the UEFA Financial Fair Play rules.

Paris St Germain raised eyebrows with the deal they recently signed with the Qatari Tourism Authority, guaranteeing them huge revenues to help break even, as the two parties are surely related.

In this case, Zenit’s owners seem to be not only trying to sponsor their own side with such wealth that they meet the new financial regulations, but to cater for the needs of all of Russian and Ukrainian football’s top teams.

As a state owned company, this proposal can be traced right to the top of Russian politics, and to Putin.

FIFA and Blatter may be powerful enough to take on most people, but challenging Russia, hosts of the 2018 World Cup, may be one battle they cannot win.