Football in Russia

This article covers the current state of football in Russia.

When the USSR broke up into 15 different countries, the once renowned sports structure of the union collapsed. Football was the most popular sport in the Soviet Union. While the national teams and the clubs used to be linked to state institutions or mass organizations, in 1991 they became private enterprises. Just like in many other spheres of business, corrupt and sometimes bloody division of power began. Furthermore, many teams of the erstwhile Soviet Top League, which was once considered to be one of the strongest and was able to compete with those of England and Italy, were now divided between the national football associations of the newly independent republics. Many of the top brand names lost their financing from the government and were left to rot, waiting for some forms of sponsorship. Citizens of Russia are interested mostly in the national team that gets to compete in the World Cup and the European Championship, and in the Premier league, where clubs from different cities look to become champions of Russia. There are also competitions considered less important, such as the Russian Cup. Some of the most famous clubs include Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg, Dynamo Moscow. There are in fact six teams in the Premier League from the city of Moscow as it was the first city to recover from the destruction of the old system.

Due to the large extension of the country, the top Russian division and its European-based clubs have often had problems adjusting to having to play clubs from Siberia, particularly those from the Far East, such as Okean Nakhodka, Luch-Energia Vladivostok and SKA-Energia Khabarovsk. Although it is very rare that a Far Eastern club competes for the Russian league title or spots in UEFA competitions, European-based teams often complain about lost matches due to jet lag or other such factors.