Football in Russia

Russian Football Association logo

Football isa popular sportin Russia . The greatest international successes so far have been the win of the Euro 1960 by the Soviet national team as well as the UEFA Cup victories of CSKA Moscow ( 2005 ) and Zenit Saint Petersburg ( 2008 ) and the semi-finals of the Russians at the Euro 2008 .

Club operation

The football clubs of Russia are largely financially dependent on their sponsors and are in the red. Tickets and fan articles only make up a small part of the budget. The official Russian football association is the Rossijski Futbolny Soyuz ( RFS ).

In addition to the Premjer League , the second division, the Perwenstwo FNL , has been organized as a national professional league since 1994, currently with 20 teams. The third division, the Perwenstwo PFL , is divided into five regional trains: East, West, South, Central and Urals. For economic reasons, the number of participating clubs in the individual trains fluctuates between 12 and 19; a total of 81 clubs took part in the five trains in 2006 (only 79 in 2005). The Russian amateur sector begins under the third division. 1994–1997 there was another professional league level, the third league, between the second division and the amateur leagues . The ten seasons of the top amateur leagues usually include several subjects of the Russian Federation , the only exceptions are the city and the surrounding Moscow Oblast , each of which forms its own season. The clubs of the three highest divisions take part in the Russian Cup .

League pyramid

step	league
1	Premjer League 16 clubs
	↑ ↓ 2 clubs
2	Perwenstwo FNL 20 clubs
	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club
3	Perwenstwo PFL West 19 clubs	Perwenstwo PFL Center 18 clubs	Perwenstwo PFL Süd 18 clubs	Perwenstvo PFL Ural-Powolschje 18 clubs	Perwenstwo PFL Ost 10 clubs
	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club	↑ ↓ 1 club
4th	Amateur Football League (LFL) 10 parallel divisions

National team

The country's team was very often present at international tournaments. Initially as the Soviet Union , at the EM 1992 also once under the name of the CIS .

Well-known Russian players

Andrei Arshavin (Sturm): multiple footballer of the year, UEFA Cup winner 2008 with Zenit Saint Petersburg
Dmitri Loskov (midfield): Footballer of the Year 2003
Sergei Ovtschinnikow (goalkeeper)
Igor Akinfejew (goalkeeper)
Guilherme (goalkeeper): First and so far only naturalized Russian national player
Viktor Onopko (defense): Footballer of the year 1992 and 1993
Alexander Mostovoi (midfield)
Alexander Kerhakov (storm)
Dmitri Sychev (Sturm): Footballer of the Year 2004
Yegor Titow (midfield): Footballer of the year 1998 and 2000
Roman Pavlyuchenko (Sturm): Top scorer in 2006 with 18 goals and 2007 with 14 goals

Former players of Russia and the Soviet Union

Web links

Commons : Soccer in Russia - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files