Fernando Morientes / Photo: © Getty Images –
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Former footballer of Real Madrid and the Spanish national team Fernando Morientes spoke about what steps Tinkoff needs to take to the Russian Premier League for further development.
In particular, Morientes shared his opinion on the expansion of the championship and the need to attract foreign investors to Russian football.
– RPL President Sergei Pryadkin, talking about the development of Russian football, cited the Spanish La Liga as an example. Why do you think this particular landmark was chosen?
– I think this is undoubtedly the right way for Russia. Our championship has been developing very actively over the past 10 years. Now I work in La Liga and I feel that this is a serious example for tournaments around the world.
– If you look from the side, what is required for the development of the championship of Russia?
– The league should become more attractive, but not only for its market, but also for other countries of the world. It is very important that the rights to show the championship are sold abroad, this will bring substantial income.
– In Spain, not a single club supports the state, and in Russia, almost all teams somehow receive money from government agencies. Can avoiding state financing in Russian football have a positive effect?
– We in Spain are now trying to look for money not in our country, but outside it. It would also be good for Russian clubs to look for other investors, if not abroad, then at least just private ones. And returning to the previous question, I’ll say: you need to grow your quality players so that the league is more attractive. But here a dilemma arises: then you do not need to let them go to develop in stronger championships. Otherwise, in the RPL itself there will be nobody to look at.
– The winner of the RPL last season received 5 million euros from the league, and the rest even less.
– Well, what can you do. It all depends on one another. If a high-quality player appears in Russia, he wants to leave, since it is difficult to claim great victories in the international arena. And since good players are leaving, it’s not interesting for sponsors to invest big money.
– What amounts do Spanish teams get from La Liga?
– Recently, they have increased. Grants receive more than 100 million euros. And the middle peasants and those who are lower – 50-60 million each. Such revenues are, for example, teams of the Levante level.
– In the major league of Spain there are 20 clubs, and in Russia only 16. Our league stands for expansion, despite the vast distances in the country and weather conditions that do not allow playing from December to March. How do you feel about this idea?
– It’s worth expanding the league only if there are many good teams in the country who are ready to play at the highest level. Otherwise, there will simply be a lot of uninteresting matches with devastating scores: 7: 0, 5: 1. This is not interesting to anyone.
Morientes, who won the Champions League three times as part of Real Madrid, completed his professional playing career in 2010. He is currently the ambassador of La Liga.
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