Russian Premier League 2002
2002 was the first season of the Russian Premier League. While the structure of the competition did not change, the top level clubs gained independence from the Professional Football League.
Spartak's six-year dominance in the league was broken by Lokomotiv.
Source: RFPL {{{2}}}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
As CSKA and Lokomotiv finished at the top of the table with equal points, the title was decided in a championship play-off.
Torpedo qualified for the UEFA Cup thanks to Spartak winning the Russian Cup in 2003.
On December 10 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:
Goalkeepers: Sergei Ovchinnikov (31).
Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (29 / 1), Gennadiy Nizhegorodov (29), Vadim Evseev (24 / 7), Dmitri Sennikov (24 / 1), Oleg Pashinin 
(24), Jacob Lekgetho 
(23 / 2), Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov (18), Milan Obradović 
(17).
Midfielders: Dmitri Loskov (30 / 7), Vladimir Maminov (29 / 4), Narvik Sirkhayev 
(15 / 4), Marat Izmailov (14 / 2), Bennett Mnguni (4).
Forwards: James Obiorah 
(23 / 5), Maksim Buznikin (23 / 2), Ruslan Pimenov (19 / 7), Júlio César 
(11 / 3), Nemanja Vučićević (9), Baba Adamu 
(8 / 1), Giorgi Demetradze 
(6), Sergei Ovchinnikov (1).
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
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