FC Moscow gets red card
Football club Moskva is dropping out of Russia`s premier league after failing to find a buyer.
On February 16, FK Moskva voluntarily terminated its membership in the Russian Football Premier League, the RFPL web site announced.
Even though the club`s newly appointed president Vladislav Plotnikov said last week that the team wouldn`t participate in the Premier League`s championship this year, there were still hopes that the club would be saved at the last minute if its owner, metals giant Norilsk Nickel, found a buyer. Konvers Grup and Tolyattiazot were named among potential buyers, but no deal has been reached so far.
The club`s finances were tripped two weeks ago when Norilsk Nickel said it would no longer finance the team. This caught both players and management by surprise as they prepared for the upcoming season with hopes of improving on last year`s sixth place finish.
The team will be replaced by Caucusus-based Alaniya Vladikavkaz in the Premier League generating speculations about the reasons behind Norilsk Nickel`s play.
The New Times magazine quoted an anonymous source saying the decision was linked to the recent appointment of Norilsk Nickel`s former boss Alexander Khloponin as head of the North Caucasus federal region.
However, promotion to the Premier League could also create additional financial strains for Alaniya, Kommersant reported.
The Caps - supposedly named because mayor Yury Luzhkov is often seen sporting a cap - are the second inhabitants of the Streltsov stadium to sink in recent years after their predecessor, Torpedo Moskva, dropped from the Premier League in 2006 following a series of splits and name changes that created FK Moskva.
Torpedo was reduced to amateur status and it remains unclear which division the FK Moskva will compete in, if at all.
Meanwhile, some FK Moskva fans were so unhappy with the situation that they went on a hunger strike on February 13, demanding that their favourite team be saved. Ten people were still participating in the hunger strike continued at the time of writing.
|
