Russian basketball is like a mirror of our life. There are rich and poor, hard workers and people making money from the air. Until now, there has been only one case of a bankruptcy of a grand: in 1998, the famous Dynamo Moscow disappeared for three years. Then the protracted crisis of the club was explained by the difficult economic situation. Now, when disproportionately big money is spinning in sports, removing a team from the championship means something else.
For a year with a little Super League lost two members at once. When in the summer of 2005 the EVRAZ concern cooled off to the team of the same name, the basketball community thoughtfully scratched its backs and forgot about one of the outsiders. Now that the St. Petersburg “Dynamo”, one of the winners, the leaders of European basketball, has dropped out of the championship, it makes sense to grab hold of their heads. Who will argue that other clubs are firmly on their feet, that there is no point in fearing for their future? Oddly enough, the structure of Vladimir Rodionov until this moment was almost the only one that tried to earn money by cultivating and selling young players in Saratov. The rest rely solely on “easy” sponsorship money and, as a rule, have not a few small, but one large source of financing. Well, if this source is spiritually relevant, it means that for some time you can not worry about the future. Only here the budgets of Russian clubs torn from the realities are increasingly reminiscent of a colossus with feet of clay.
It’s also a shame that Russia has just begun to gain the authority of a country in which it is not scary to go to the eminent legionnaire. About five years ago, any foreigner, before discussing the possibility of going to the "cold and bears," demanded 20-30 percent more money, and forward. Russia began to approach civilization and adequate salary rates, but the collapse of EVRAZ and St. Petersburg Dynamo threw the championship in a reputation several years ago. Russia has been breaking through an extra ticket to ULEB tournaments for so long that losing one of them “from scratch” is doubly disappointing.
RFB President Sergei Chernov, if he is worried about the complexity of the situation, he doesn’t show it. In a conversation with a SPORT Today correspondent, he refused to draw certain parallels and go into comments:
“Dynamo did not apply for the championship and did not transfer the application fee,” said the head of the Russian basketball.
- You took an active part in the creation of the club, helped Vladimir Rodionov in this matter. Was it really not possible now to influence the situation?
- You know, I took part in the creation of almost each of the Super League clubs. Well, shall I now supervise them all? “Dynamo” rose to its feet, regained independence. I cannot give him constant help.
- Fans may be concerned about a situation where ...
- Let's get the next question.
- What do you expect from the start of the championship?
- That it will become more interesting than all the previous ones. Almost all the clubs have strengthened, especially the leaders. And the fight for medals will become even more fierce.
The optimism of an official can only be envied. I would like to believe that high sports results (in 2006, Russian clubs out of six European cups won four, and in the remaining two reached the finals) will become a guarantee of financial prosperity. Although there is no direct connection between the first and second in Russia.
Nikolai TSYNKEVICH
Participants in the championship of Russia 2006/07:
CSKA (Moscow), Khimki (Moscow region), UNICS (Kazan), Dynamo (Moscow), Dynamo (Moscow region), Spartak (St. Petersburg), Ural Great (Perm) , "TsSK VVS-Samara" (Samara region), "Spartak-Primorye" (Primorsky Territory), "University-Ugra" (Surgut), "Standard" (Samara region), "Lokomotiv-Rostov" (Rostov-on-Don ), Sibirtelecom-Lokomotiv (Novosibirsk).
Dates of the Russian Championship 2006/07:
10/08/2006. Start of the two-round regular season.
04/18/2007. Regular season finish.
April 2007. Start of the playoffs, which includes the 8 best teams.
Read more about the new Russian championship on the Double Team blog