Russian national team to compete in domestic league?
By Jacob Cooper
In an interview with Russian news source Itar-Tass (h/t The Guardian), it has been revealed that the Russian FA are considering placing their national side into their domestic league ahead of the 2018 World Cup, hosted in Russia.
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According to The Guardian, the Russian FA are looking into the idea of placing their national team into the Russian Premier League, with the hope that this will strengthen their chances of advancing to the later rounds of the 2018 tournament. After being knocked out of the group stages of the 2014 campaign, Russia will be hoping for a better performance in front of their home fans.
The Russian FA will attempt to buy first team players out of their club contracts in order to compete for their nation; with all-but-one of their current lineup based in Russia. Currently coached by Fabio Capello, Russia reached the World Cup for the first time since 2002, and were knocked out in controversial fashion after footage showed that Igor Akinfeev was distracted by a laser before conceding the decisive goal against Algeria.
The Russian Football Union’s general secretary, Anatoliy Vorobyev, stated in an interview with Itar-Tass that the notion is being considered.
“It is clear that we can only compete on the highest world level through teamwork. In this situation, it is necessary to look for a possible competitive advantage. One of them, perhaps, the most important thing would be to create a core team – ‘Russia 2018’.
“The team would take part in the Russian domestic championship in the season before the World Cup, that is 2017-18. The team would be formed from “leased” players who play regularly for Russia and represent the leading clubs. There would be two transfer windows.
“The club could take back a player sent to ‘Russia 2018’ for the winter off-season. It would also be possible to arrange for the club to get its player back for the spring campaign of the Champions League.”
While the idea may seem sensible for the national team’s prospects, it is unclear whether club officials in the Russian Premier League will approve the notion. The talks are still at a preliminary stage and the chances of the notion being passed is merely speculation at this point.