Alexander SAMEDOV (left) and LOUISE ADRIANO appeared in Spartak at the request of Massimo Carrera. Photo Alexander STUPNIKOV, FC "Spartak"

What do they think about this at the club? It is with this question that we turned to.

- How would you comment on the current tournament situation?

First of all, I would like to note that we should not make premature conclusions about our team’s chances both in the national championship and in the Champions League. There are 26 rounds of the domestic tournament ahead, and more than a month before the start of the international tournament. And if in the near future we establish the true reasons for our relative failures at the start of the season, then the situation can be corrected long before the intermediate finish, when the RFPL goes on a break and the group matches in the Champions League end.

- But Spartak finished the last autumn segment of the championship in first place, which is hardly worth talking about now.

Yes, and before the winter intermission we were five points ahead of our closest competitors. And this despite the fact that we did not yet have a defender, midfielder and striker. Moreover, the last two were acquired at the request of Massimo Carrera.

As for Dzhikia, his candidacy, proposed by the club, was naturally agreed upon with the team's head coach. Well, Carrera received such football players as, as they say, as an inheritance, and a number of others. Moreover, the last three were invited just in last year’s summer transfer window. These are the players who managed to win gold medals. And thanks to the fact that they were able to be preserved, in the current off-season, an experienced, well-played, disciplined team with well-established relationships was preparing for the next start.

She proved her strength by winning another trophy - the Super Cup. And this victory was achieved without one of the key performers - Zobnin, who, unfortunately, received a serious injury during the Confederations Cup.

Massimo CARRERA is waiting for newcomers. Photo by Alexander FEDOROV, "SE"

- What vision of the tournament prospects did the club have before the start of this season?

Of course, we clearly understood that winning the championship is not easy, but retaining the title of the best team is many times more difficult. And therefore, back in May, they asked the head coach to identify positions that, in his opinion, required strengthening. These positions have been named. Let me emphasize - these are positions, not names, as Carrera said on Tuesday at a press conference in Tarasovka. Most likely, these turned out to be translation difficulties, since Carrera began to name the names themselves a little later.

- And what names did Massimo name?

Among the players subsequently named were the following: , . Some of them were acquired - today you already know who, but some, for various reasons, were not. Although the club did everything possible to fulfill all the wishes of the head coach, who led the team to the championship and who had to prove the consistency of this success in the new, that is, already begun, season.

By the way, at a certain period the head coach was interested in the services of a midfielder and striker. And there was a high probability that both of them would move to Spartak. But at the last moment Carrera changed his mind.

- At what stage is the search for newcomers now?

It would be a big mistake to consider that it is completed - it is being carried out around the clock and, above all, on the basis of the wishes and recommendations of the head coach, who has been given a full carte blanche. The club has allocated funds for necessary purchases.

And as further confirmation of this, on Thursday I’m flying out for negotiations with one fairly authoritative football player whom Massimo would like to see in Spartak. By the way, the clubs have already reached an agreement, but the last word belongs to the player himself. Moreover, this is not the last candidate of those whom Carrera names today and whom the club expects to acquire.

Yes, of course, Spartak needs strengthening. But I repeat that, in addition to this, a comprehensive analysis of the game in the opening matches of the championship is necessary. Since our team was capable of defeating Dynamo and Ufa with the squad that won gold last season. Even in the absence of Zobnin.

However, we should not forget that the guys, who are now firing one critical arrow after another, figuratively speaking, just yesterday gave us a lot of pleasure with their play and victories, including over their main competitors - and. I would not want the attitude towards Spartak to become an illustration of the famous saying “From love to hate - one step.”

- What are your expectations from the upcoming tours?

In order to defend the title in Russia and perform well in the Champions League, any team - and Spartak in this case is no exception - needs support. We are talking about every player and, first of all, about the head coach. The coach who hid the gold medal in his pocket at the awards ceremony. Probably also in order to make room on the chest for the new award won with Spartak.

— The owner of Spartak, Leonid Fedun, recently made a proposal to carry out a number of reforms in Russian football. What work is being done by the club to implement these proposals?

— We are now preparing letters to all leagues: RFPL, FNL and PFL, sending an appeal to the Ministry of Sports and hope that all our proposals will be considered at the next executive committee.

— Why change the usual structure of a popular game so radically?

— Several goals are being pursued here, because the proposed reforms are specifically aimed at improving certain components of the game. But I will highlight the main priorities: improving the quality of football itself and increasing spectator interest in domestic championship matches. This is why the proposal was put forward. Thus, viewers will have the opportunity to watch the game with their own eyes in comfortable, safe arenas, and the quality of the television picture will also increase, which, in our opinion, will affect the overall growth of interest in the RFPL.

— What about reforming the gaming grid? It turns out that the current calendar still does not suit Russian clubs?

— Yes, indeed, this story repeats itself every year, every season we try to move games from cold regions to the summer, but so far this has been difficult. I would like such issues to be automatically taken into account when creating the calendar - it is with this approach that a lot of difficulties will be avoided for both clubs and their fans.

— Your club also received a proposal to introduce a mandatory bonus system for children’s coaches who trained players for the RFPL, and to tighten the current limit on foreign players. It turns out that Spartak came to the defense of young Russian football players?

— It is important to understand here that spot work will not fundamentally solve the problem. Unfortunately, even if the limit is tightened, new young stars with Russian passports will not appear overnight. So, in addition to introducing a limit, we need to pay attention to children's coaches, football schools, youth and youth competitions. And then, having carried out reforms in all these areas, we will be able to get the first results and increase the number of potential players for the Russian national team - it is no secret that today the coaching staff of the national team does not have much choice.

— And yet your proposals look a little harsh, especially for clubs that do not consider themselves among the elite of Russian football. Are there any fears that your colleagues will not accept your project?

— Yes, we are prepared for the fact that many clubs will not be particularly happy about our reforms. After all, objectively, except for the top teams, few people will find these proposals interesting. But let's look at the situation objectively: we all pursue different goals. For some, the main task is to represent the region in the RFPL, for others it is to show good football, develop schools, and represent the country in European arenas. But we are talking about a global reform of all football in Russia, so sooner or later everyone will come to a common understanding.

• Nail Izmailov: “Our goal is to make the Russian championship better and more popular”

“After 0:7 at Anfield there was deathly silence in the dressing room”

— You talked about goals and repeatedly noted that Spartak will continue to fight for the championship. But don’t you think that the club lost an unacceptable number of points at the start of the season?

— We lost a lot, I won’t deny it, and overall we started the season very poorly. There were reasons for this - both external and internal, subjective and objective. It was a difficult moment, but thanks to the guys who found the strength to pull themselves together and finish this year with dignity. We are in the top three with Zenit, so I will regard this interim result as positive.

— In the fall, a whole information campaign developed around Spartak, mostly with a pronounced negative connotation. How did you manage with thiscope with?

“The whole point is that the situation in which we find ourselves is definitely beneficial to someone.” To someone outside the club.

Internally—all the staff, coaches, players, and administration—such stories made it difficult to work productively. We held several meetings, gathered at the base in Tarasovka, in my office, talked a lot with Massimo Carrera, with the entire coaching staff, and together developed a mechanism that allowed us to unite.

In addition, we found the strength to regain lost motivation and believe that, despite the gap from competitors, the team is capable of fighting for a second championship.

— Have you determined the reason for the loss of motivation?

- This is psychology. As people say, we went through fire, water and copper pipes, and with them fame, prizes, medals and recognition. Alas, the team was not ready to win over and over again. But there are also positive aspects: having found themselves in a stressful situation, the guys became stronger. The latest rounds of the RFPL are clear proof of this.

— How do you assess the results in the Champions League? It’s unlikely that the club’s management considered the score 0:7 in the final match of the group stage to be satisfactory?

“Today, for our team, this is primarily a tournament that allows us to gain invaluable experience of performing on the international stage and playing with famous opponents. For many guys, such matches happened for the first time in their lives. With this invaluable practice, players will continue to progress and grow. I assess the club’s overall performance in the Champions League as positive, and even before the start of the season, the task was clearly formulated: to play well in the Champions League. Decent does not mean reaching the next round or getting into the Europa League. Worthy means performing to the limit of your capabilities, making the right conclusions and improving the overall quality of football.

• Reuters

— You were with the team in Liverpool. What was the atmosphere in the locker room after the defeat?

— There was deathly silence. Of course, we were all hurt - such defeats are not so easy to survive. But, I repeat, for all of us it was first and foremost an experience, so whether we lost 0:1 or 0:7, for the tournament situation the result is the same. In Liverpool, the team came out to play to win, to fight for the right to continue playing in the tournament - in such a situation, it’s either hit or miss.

— Weren’t you worried about the psychological state of the players? Many experts said that, for example, Alexander Selikhov should not bet on the match against CSKA.

— Sasha, although young, is a very promising, high-quality and professional player. Still, we saw the match with CSKA - he, and the whole team, were able to redeem themselves for those seven goals in England.

— After the victory over CSKA, Leonid Fedun said that the team would fully make amends only if it beat the leading Lokomotiv with a score of 4:0. It's a joke? Or do you really believe that it is still possible to catch up with the railway workers?

— Of course, everything is possible, we are the creators of our own success. Without looking back at the opponent, we will take points in each of the remaining ten matches. So in the spring, every game is like a final.

“Talks about Promes leaving are irrelevant”

- You re-sign very quicklysigned a contract with Georgy Dzhikia. Playerwas so interested in extending the cooperation, or was the club management fueled by rumors about his possible departure to Zenit?

— Fortunately, and maybe unfortunately for many, the team does not work based on rumors and gossip. We live in the real world and in real facts. Dzhikia is a talented guy, he has proven his right to play, and we need him without any doubt. In addition, we discussed the option of extending and increasing payments in case of successful actions on the field a year ago, when he first came to Spartak.

— It’s no secret that in the summer Massimo Carrera told you the names of those players with whom he wants to work. Does such a top list from a trainer exist now?

— I would like to clarify the following right away: . And by the way, in the summer, despite all the rumors and speculation that enveloped the club, they acted the same way. There is a wish from the head coach - these are positions and names, and there are proposals from the selection department. By putting all these lists together, we begin the discussion. But believe me, the last word always remains with the head coach, he gets to play and work with them, so the entire prerogative to choose the players is his.

• Nail Izmailov: “We live in a world of real facts”

— Which market will you focus your attention on?

— These are equally the RFPL and the European championships. We look not only at Russian players, we also need strong foreign players.

— Have you identified the lines that need strengthening?

— Of course, but I won’t tell you all the details of future transactions yet. I want to say something else: in addition to attracting highly qualified football players, we really want to develop our own youth, rely on our students, so we will try to strengthen the main team by attracting them.

— What is the situation with existing contracts? In the summer, Serdar Taski wanted to leave the club, and even now he honestly admits that he has not yet made a final decision. Will his contract be re-signed?

— He has a contract with Spartak until the end of the current season, the final decision will be made later, during the final negotiations.

- ANDdo they have any basisIs there talk that Quincy Promes might leave the team and go to England?

- Not at the moment. And, in general, I really don’t want to destroy the champion lineup, which is quite capable of repeating and surpassing its last year’s result.

• globallookpress.com

“Liverpool cannot forget the performance of our fans”

— Last year, you entered into a dispute with Zenit for the title of the most popular club in the country, and, according to the results of a VTsIOM survey, the St. Petersburgers won. Did you request new data?

— At VTsIOM? We don't need this. We receive data at our stadium, at away matches. Our fans are with us always and everywhere. Everything here is obvious and clear.

— The club is actively working with fans. Is the loyalty system for season ticket holders justified?

— By and large, we were able to understand the full taste of this program, launched several years ago, only now, during the Champions League matches. The system works: many fans used their accumulated points to purchase real tickets to European matches as a priority, without spending a penny. In addition, this approach cuts off the air for speculators. The fans themselves rated this system very positively.

— Is Spartak fighting for a new audience?

— Of course, the success of the club in the Russian and international arenas contributes to attracting fans.

— What plans for the development of the club are Spartak making?

— Our priority is to improve the children’s and youth program. It is in young talents that the future of both Spartak and the Russian national team lies. Therefore, we pay great attention to this. But we also plan to expand our borders, in particular we are working on entering the Chinese market. We plan to develop football in this country, which will be carried out under the Spartak emblem.

— After the incident in Maribor, there were no special complaints from the red-and-white fans regarding the issue of discipline. How did you achieve this?

— We are in constant contact with representatives of fan movements. Both players, coaches and club management hold meetings with them.

— At the Champions League matches, fans of the Moscow club showed off their colorful performances.

— Performances performed by Spartak fans in Europe are still remembered with a shudder. I met with the president and director of Liverpool, they cannot forget the image and inscription on the banner that was hung at the match in Moscow. This made an indelible impression on the British delegation.

— Does the club provide any assistance to fans in creating such banners?

— We help in the matter of interaction with any government agencies, but the fans finance the performance themselves. We are very grateful to them for this. There are no analogues to this in Russia. The performances of our fans are considered not only the best in Russia, but also one of the brightest in Europe.

• Nail Izmailov: “Klopp still cannot forget the performance of our fans”

— How can you comment on the incident with the rocket launcher that occurred in Maribor?

“This case cannot be attributed either to the shortcomings of Russian fans or to problems on the part of Spartak.” The inspection system and general conditions for organizing the match in Slovenia were at a low level, something like this had never been seen in Europe before. Despite the fact that everything was terrible there, the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) inspector - RT) gave them a good rating.

— What exactly were the problems?

— Due to problems with the access system, there were one and a half times more Russian fans at the match compared to the quota - the organizers let absolutely all the fans through, and then simply locked them out of the arena. How this could happen is worth asking the management of Maribor.

— Did Sevilla do the right thing by not allowing Russian fans to attend the Champions League match?

- according to the letter of the law - the club received a ban from UEFA on allowing fans from Russia into the stands and began selling personalized tickets in order to in every possible way exclude all kinds of violations of this decree. As a result, even those who obtained tickets through resellers could not pass control at the stadium.

— Don’t you get the impression that Spartak is under more intense public scrutiny due to the approaching 2018 World Cup and foreign media stories about violent Russian fans?

— “Spartak” is a leader in everything: in football, organization, fan movement, business and work with academies. Naturally, because of this, there is a certain subjectivity in relation to the club, attempts are being made to harm Russia in general and us in particular.

Take, for example, the incident with accusations of racism against the captain of the Spartak youth team. We will defend his rights at the meeting of the UEFA disciplinary commission, as we are confident of his innocence.

- Where such confidence?

“He doesn’t speak English well enough to say such rude words to a person of a different skin color.”

— Is this connected with not the most friendly attitude towards Russian sports?

— I think parallels can be drawn, because Russia is now looked at with a special squint.

“The stadium will undergo changes before the World Cup matches”

— In 2017, the Otkritie Arena stadium hosted the Confederations Cup games. Did FIFA have any complaints?

— We work closely with the Russia 2018 organizing committee and FIFA; we received high marks for hosting the tournament matches. The reason for this can be considered our extensive experience in organizing competitions at the highest level. Tushino employs people with extensive experience in organizing tournaments, which, perhaps, none of the RFPL teams has.

— Before the Confederations Cup, the stadium was modified, in particular, the number of seats for journalists was increased. Will similar work be carried out before the World Cup?

- That's right, we will need to start rotating the seats again. At FIFA, we will again increase the working areas for media representatives, the so-called hospitality area, and expand the areas for restaurants. There will also be changes in the logistics of the stadium; teams will enter the field along a different route. But you shouldn’t think that such works will have a negative impact on ordinary viewers. The ticket program has been launched and is being successfully implemented, including for matches at our stadium.

— Most recently, Lokomotiv President Ilya Gerkus said that the club was seriously thinking about installing a retractable roof over the stadium. Have you ever had such thoughts?

— There will be no reconstruction at our stadium in the near future. By the way, we considered the option with a roof when developing the Opening of the Arena project, but have not yet returned to this issue. Now there are simply no necessary resources, it is very expensive, and Spartak is already not in the most favorable position regarding the financial principle of fair play.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the capital's Spartak, Nail Izmailov, in an interview with RT, explained what goals the leadership of the red and white pursues, proposing the RFPL to carry out fundamental reforms. He also shared his transfer plans, told how the team managed to get out of the crisis situation, and revealed details of the relationship with the fans.

“Our goal is to make the Russian championship better and more popular”

The owner of Spartak, Leonid Fedun, recently made a proposal to carry out a number of reforms in Russian football. What work is being done by the club to implement these proposals?

We are now preparing letters to all leagues: RFPL, FNL and PFL, sending an appeal to the Ministry of Sports and hope that all our proposals will be considered at the next executive committee.

- Why change the usual structure of a popular game so radically?

Several goals are being pursued here, because the proposed reforms are specifically aimed at improving certain components of the game. But I will highlight the main priorities: improving the quality of football itself and increasing spectator interest in domestic championship matches. For this purpose, a proposal was put forward to reduce the participants in the national championship to 14 teams. Thus, viewers will have the opportunity to watch the game with their own eyes in comfortable, safe arenas, and the quality of the television picture will also increase, which, in our opinion, will affect the overall growth of interest in the RFPL.

What about reforming the gaming grid? It turns out that the current calendar still does not suit Russian clubs?

Yes, indeed, this story repeats itself every year, every season we try to move games from cold regions to the summer, but so far this has been difficult. I would like such issues to be automatically taken into account when creating the calendar - it is with this approach that a lot of difficulties will be avoided for both clubs and their fans.

Your club also received a proposal to introduce a mandatory bonus system for children's coaches who trained players for the RFPL, and to tighten the current limit on foreign players. It turns out that Spartak came to the defense of young Russian football players?

It is important to understand here that spot work will not fundamentally solve the problem. Unfortunately, even if the limit is tightened, new young stars with Russian passports will not appear overnight. So, in addition to introducing a limit, we need to pay attention to children's coaches, football schools, youth and youth competitions. And then, having carried out reforms in all these areas, we will be able to get the first results and increase the number of potential players for the Russian national team - it is no secret that today the coaching staff of the national team does not have much choice.

And yet, your proposals seem a little harsh, especially for clubs that do not consider themselves among the elite of Russian football. Are there any fears that your colleagues will not accept your project?

Yes, we are prepared for the fact that many clubs will not be particularly happy about our reforms. After all, objectively, except for the top teams, few people will find these proposals interesting. But let's look at the situation objectively: we all pursue different goals. For some, the main task is to represent the region in the RFPL, for others it is to show good football, develop schools, and represent the country in European arenas. But we are talking about a global reform of all football in Russia, so sooner or later everyone will come to a common understanding.

“After 0:7 at Anfield there was deathly silence in the dressing room”

You talked about goals and repeatedly noted that Spartak will continue to fight for the championship, but don’t you think that the club lost an unacceptable number of points at the start of the season?

We lost a lot, I won’t deny it, and overall we started the season very poorly. There were reasons for this, both external and internal, subjective and objective. It was a difficult moment, but thanks to the guys who found the strength to pull themselves together and finish this year with dignity. We are in the top three, we have an equal number of points with Zenit, so I will regard this interim result as positive.

In the fall, a whole information campaign developed around Spartak, mostly with a pronounced negative connotation, how did you manage to cope with this?

The whole point is that the situation in which we found ourselves is absolutely beneficial to someone. Someone who is outside the club.

Internally, for all employees, coaches, players and administration, such stories prevented them from working productively. We held several meetings, gathered at the base in Tarasovka, in my office, talked a lot with Massimo Carrera, with the entire coaching staff, and together developed a mechanism that allowed us to unite.

In addition, we found the strength to regain lost motivation and believe that, despite the lead from competitors, the team is capable of fighting for a second championship.

- Have you determined the reason for the loss of motivation?

This is psychology. As people say, we went through “fire, water and copper pipes” and with them fame, prizes, medals and recognition. Alas, the team was not ready to win over and over again. But there are also positive aspects: having found themselves in a stressful situation, the guys became stronger. The latest rounds of the RFPL are clear proof of this.

How do you assess the results in the Champions League? It’s unlikely that the club management called 0:7 in the final match of the group stage satisfactory?

Today, for our team, this is primarily a tournament that allows us to gain invaluable experience of performing on the international stage and playing with famous opponents. For many guys, such matches happened for the first time in their lives. Having received this invaluable practice, players will continue to progress and grow. I assess the club’s overall performance in the Champions League as positive; moreover, even before the start of the season, the task was clearly formulated: to play well in the Champions League. Worthy does not mean reaching the next round or getting into the Europa League. Worthy is to perform to the limit of your capabilities, draw the right conclusions and improve the overall quality of football.

- You were with the team in Liverpool, what was the atmosphere in the locker room after the defeat?

There was deathly silence. Of course, we were all hurt; such defeats are not so easy to survive. But, I repeat, for all of us it was first and foremost an experience, so whether we lost 0:1 or 0:7, for the tournament situation the result is the same. In Liverpool, the team came out to play to win, to fight for the right to continue playing in the tournament, in such a situation it was either hit or miss.

Weren't you worried about the psychological state of the players? Many experts said that, for example, Alexander Selikhov should not bet on the match against CSKA...

Sasha, although young, is a very promising, high-quality and professional player. Still, we saw the match with CSKA, he and the whole team were able to redeem themselves for those seven goals in England.

After the victory over CSKA, Leonid Fedun said that the team would fully make amends only if it beat the leading Lokomotiv with a score of 4:0. Is this a joke or do you really believe that you can still catch up with the “railroad workers”?

Nail Izmailov: We are building a self-sufficiency system for Spartak

The Soviet Sport observer met with the vice-president of Spartak.

The Soviet Sport observer met with Spartak vice-president Nail Izmailov and asked him about the economic and marketing components of the club.

“WORKED AND STUDYED”

- Have you really been a fan of Spartak since you were seven years old?
- Yes, I’ve been sick since seven. I started going to matches in 1989. I am a Muscovite myself. Both grandfathers defended the capital during the Great Patriotic War and served here. One was an artilleryman, a crew commander, the second a sapper. After the war they remained in Moscow. And my parents were born here.

- Were you actively sick?
- I attended matches regularly. On-site including.

- According to the hard version?
- According to everyone. I wasn’t part of the fan community, but I know many of them.

- How did you make your way from a fan to the vice-president of Spartak?
- I worked and studied a lot (smiles). I started working in my third year of college. Experience is very diverse - from retail, restaurant business, entertainment to construction, investment and banking. Then I received an invitation from Leonid Arnoldovich Fedun. “Spartak” is involved in the large project “Tushino-2018”, which involves the development of Tushino Field. Several functional clusters are planned. Sports is the Otkritie Arena, a new club base, a multifunctional indoor palace, which will be located next to the stadium, where matches, competitions in other sports, concerts, exhibitions, and conferences will be held. Shopping and office centers, hotels, a children's entertainment complex, schools, kindergartens, clinics, and housing will be built. Actually a city. There is a lot of talk about how all this is to enrich investors. But construction costs are expected to be offset by income from home sales. Constant income from other facilities will be directed to the club to ensure its stable functioning. This will allow Spartak to feel confident financially over time and lose absolute dependence on the fortune of shareholders.

- So you are building a self-sufficiency system for the club?
- Yes exactly. The same system is being built by the London Arsenal - the Highbury and Queensland Road project. The Brooklyn Nets basketball center with its megamall is a similar model. If the club wants to live and develop normally, it needs constant budget replenishment. Relying only on shareholder money is ineffective.

- How did you get involved in this?
- I had experience in investment activities, I did this in one very large financial group. Housing, commercial real estate, mutual funds... I know this area professionally, which is probably why I received an invitation to Spartak four years ago.

Have you watched the Hollywood film “The Big Short” about the 2008 crisis? If so, you must have understood the dialogues, which consisted of 70 percent banking terms.
- There is no time left for cinema, work takes 24 hours a day. But since you advise, I’ll take a look.

DISCHARGE FOR RESERVE

- You were called to work in construction and real estate, but you are in the vice presidency of a football club. How so?
- The club and “Tushino-2018” are a single whole. It all started with the stadium, during the construction of which I led a kind of management company, that is, I oversaw the construction as a future user of the facility. Now the strategic goal is to create an autonomous life support system for Spartak, to generate income through new and development of old opportunities of the club, stadium and territory.

- Are the purchase and sale of players included in this system?
- Ideally, both parts, sports and infrastructure, should be profitable. Players are an asset that is bound to grow in value. True, so far few people in Russia have been able to achieve this. The vertical “academy - youth team - Spartak-2 - base,” led by Sergei Rodionov, exists. But we often hear reproaches that our students go to other clubs, open up there, and play better than us. This means there is something to add.

- Sergey Galitsky said that he used the classic stadium cladding made of travertine stone, because bright modern materials tend to fade. I immediately remembered Otkritie Arena.
- Our cladding will not fade, everything is done with reserve. In addition, there are more important parameters. For example, the functionality of the stadium, convenience and comfort, safety and logistics. Or the place where it was built. Construction of arenas for the 2018 World Cup is currently underway. In each case, is the expectation made that the stadium will become a center of human attraction, the center of sports and commercial life, and a venue for non-stop public events? Are there those who evaluate these investments professionally and with perspective? Entire areas with transport and other infrastructure should be developed around the arenas. An illustrative example is England, London, where the rise in real estate prices in football areas in recent years is higher than in other non-football areas. Tushino 2018 has not yet been built, but around the stadium people are already jogging, walking their dogs, and riding bicycles. Although the nearest residential buildings are on the other side of the busy Volokolamsk Highway.

- Those who saw the arenas of the Portuguese Euro 2004, which are not in demand today, will agree with you. But let's return to the Spartak vertical. Is it really difficult for a club academy to maintain the pace of “one student per year for the base”?
- Let me make a reservation right away: I am not responsible for the football part of Spartak. This is the patrimony of Sergei Rodionov. I will answer only because I took part in the development of some innovations. The desired “productivity” of the club system was written down on paper. Coaches of all departments face this task. As of this year, it is essentially regulated. Trainers will be rewarded for their implementation, and bonuses will be clearly outlined. Before there was no systematization. It is the replenishment of the base, and not a place in youth competitions or in the FNL, that is most important in preparing the reserve.

TV REVENUE IS ONLY 4 PERCENT OF THE BUDGET

- What are your responsibilities at Spartak?
- The entire business component and the tools that help ensure it. That is, a security department, a fan club, commercial and IT departments, a public relations department, a single technical center that ensures the operation of the stadium, the Academy in Sokolniki, the base in Tarasovka and the construction of a new base in Tushino.

- Are you on the board of directors of the club?
- No, I am on the board of Spartak.

- How is football business different from any other?
- Modern football is a huge business, associated with the passion and excitement of millions. The profitability of such a business can be very high if the level of management of all participants is appropriate. Globally, it is no different from many others. This is a symbiosis of different types of business, from retail sales and tickets to real estate operations. The main product produced is human emotions. They should be such that the fan feels good about his involvement in the club. There are three pillars in the marketing strategy of any football club - sporting success, the number of fans and their activity, and the club's budget. They are not directly dependent, but very noticeably influence each other.

- How did Spartak’s 13-year absence of titles affect the number of fans?
- We recently launched a large study on this topic, including in the regions. We have developed a methodology, we want to understand the dynamics. Just as regularly as the number of our subscribers on social networks, merchandising, and ticket program, we want to analyze the change in the number of fans. And not only in quantitative, but in qualitative terms. I don’t know yet whether there have been fewer of them over the past 13 years. But there are results of an English study. A person begins to get sick between the ages of 6 and 12 years and after that, in 90 percent of cases, he does not change his club habits. The main things that influence the choice of a club are friends, family, environment; then, by a large margin, the team’s sporting successes; in third place is some item you like: a scarf, a pen, a T-shirt, that is, merchandising. “Liverpool” has not been the champion of England for 26 years, but it is unlikely that it has lost much in the growth of fans.

We understand: there is a danger of losing young people due to lack of titles. We are trying to compensate for this. The Spartak Kids program, for example, makes the visit of children and families with children to our stadium memorable and enjoyable. The family section is almost full at every match. Another example is the enormous popularity of promotions with our partner Nissan to recruit children to the Spartak Academy. This was done in different cities. Luck could smile on two or three boys, no more. But in Krasnodar, for example, 2,500 parents came in the wild heat, and the event lasted for several hours!

- Is it possible to compare the economy of Spartak with leading foreign clubs? Or are these different worlds?
- The filling of the budget is radically different if we talk about the top leagues in Europe. There, revenue from the sale of television rights is about 30 percent. Spartak has less than four. Despite the fact that match day revenue, that is, the total profit on the day of the match, is similar for us - about 25 percent of the budget.

- It’s strange: the clubs have pennies from television, but they don’t bother the RFPL at all about this.
- Our television shows football for free, nothing can be done about it.

“SPARTAK” CANNOT LEAVE THE POOL

- How are the prices for tickets and subscriptions determined?
- After the opening of the stadium, we were guided by the figures of the previous season. It doesn’t matter where you play: emotions are sold, and they don’t depend on the arena. Comfort, convenience, safety, parking, food may change, but the stadium itself is just a box that, if used correctly, can turn into an effective business tool. Therefore, we took the history of pricing in Luzhniki and Cherkizovo as a starting point, increasing the added value by a number VIP categories. Changing the price for ordinary fans would be disrespectful to them.

- Don't change - optimize.
- That’s why the ticket program is being analyzed now. Based on the dynamics, in each segment we will be able to regulate prices in a targeted manner. Of course, we will take into account the team’s results and the fans’ expectations before the season.

- Then you should sell season tickets for half the season. After all, expectations before autumn and spring are often different.
- Dynamic pricing is also in our plans. When not only the result is taken into account, but also the lead time of the sale, day, game time, weather, etc. There are difficulties, but we already had experience in selling season tickets for a series of matches. It is possible that we will return to it.

- Does the lack of a clear calendar for the season bother you? Sometimes the day and time of the start of the match is determined almost a week before the game.
- Here we are hostages of television. The unpredictable program grid dictates conditions for us too. Postponements of matches for European Cup participants are the same. In England, the calendar is clear for a year in advance; there even grandfathers went to matches according to the current schedule. The British keep traditions, but here we have no consistency. Although the first shoots have appeared: we see how people in the new season are happy to purchase subscriptions to their favorite places, know their neighbors, and communicate with them in a friendly manner. This is important for football. When a person comes to the arena, he feels a sense of belonging to his favorite team and has an influence on what is happening through its support. This is especially valuable; it is one of those components that allows the team to win.

- And yet it’s not clear. 4 percent from TV is ridiculous money. If you left the pool, you would get more.
- To leave the pool means to destroy the entire component of the League. “Real” and “Manchester United” do not leave the pool, which means that everything is not so simple. Besides, we're all in the same boat in a way.

DUMPING CORRUPTS

- Why do you keep prices high for guest tickets? In return, your fans are also sold expensive tickets.
- We do not raise the price artificially. In similar sectors it is the same for strangers and our fans.

- If both clubs had made prices lower, the Spartak sector in the return match would have been fuller.
- Direct exchange is impossible; such a practice does not exist anywhere in the world. In addition, prices for guests and hosts for identical seats should not differ according to the regulations. We offer a service that costs 1000 rubles. The price of the service at another stadium may be different depending on convenience, comfort and other factors. Artificially lowering prices corrupts the consumer. You can give out tickets for free, but it is unlikely that in the long run this will attract fans and teach them to support the team in all ways.

- How many season tickets have you sold for this season?
- About 15 thousand. 30 percent arena occupancy.

- Is Spartak a self-sustaining club?
- I would say - the closest to self-sufficiency among Russian clubs.

- Are there any problems with financial fair play?
- We were allowed to participate in European competitions, which means no. UEFA allows a certain budget deficit if a number of conditions are met. They look at such details as the relevance of income, for example: the cost of advertising sponsorship contracts should not exceed the market value.

- How has the commercial potential of the new stadium been realized?

There is room for growth. We want to provide, for example, free Wi-Fi in the stands so that fans have access to the club’s mobile application. It will include news, photo and video content, ticket services, the opportunity to buy goods in the club store, delivery of drinks and food to a seat in the stands, locating yourself and searching for friends at the stadium through your personal account. We are finishing the project with four cellular operators; a stable 4G signal should appear in the arena in December. We expect to launch an official online service for the resale of Ticket Exchange tickets by fans to each other. If a person is unable to go to the match, but has a season ticket or ticket, he will be able to officially resell the opportunity to visit the game. This is popular in England and Germany. Despite the fact that Spartak sells about 70 percent of all tickets and season tickets online.

BEST MUSEUM IN THE WORLD

- How else do you fight for an audience?
- Different ways. We organize children's football camps, hold school tournaments - 15 thousand people came to the final of one of them, which was held in schools in the North-Western Administrative District of Moscow this year. We use the power of media. We work closely with the fan base, about whom we know a lot, from who they come to the stadium with, to gastronomic and preferences. Happy holidays to them. People are pleased to receive a personal video greeting and an invitation to a match from a team player on their birthday. We connect club partners to the loyalty program. We have been using a customer relationship management (CRM) system for a long time. It includes a ticket program, access control, loyalty program, merchandising, monitoring relationships with our partners, catering, and so on.

We interact with charitable foundations; we recently launched a program with a fund to fight leukemia, with plans to connect organizations that help sick children, orphans and low-income families. We help people with disabilities attend matches. Our new employee Alexander Sergeev, who himself uses a wheelchair, is doing a lot of work in this direction.

- Do you have enough non-football events in the arena?
- Presentations, conferences, test drives, children's events are ongoing. But we are ready and want to do more. Two concerts are planned for next season. More often it is fraught with danger for the field: we cover it with platforms, but in our climate this is not very beneficial for the grass.

- 13 thousand rubles for a modest autumn jacket in a Spartak store - isn’t it a little expensive?
- We are dependent on the manufacturer, our margin is small.

- Are you planning to take the Spartak brand to the international level?
- Mainly due to the promotion of the mobile application. Open fan clubs? But why, given modern Internet capabilities? But what we are planning is a network of football academy branches. Bonnies will appear in Russian cities, and we want to make one in China. And open a club office there. In Hong Kong or Shanghai, negotiations are still ongoing. This will allow us to establish a dialogue with a huge country and, possibly, sponsors. There is no prospect of moving to Europe, where the leading clubs have a strong position; we will not be able to compete with them. Our fans already get emotions from a distance, watching matches on the Internet. A friend from Los Angeles went to a game in Moscow, having calmly bought a ticket in America through an online service and was impressed by the comfort, safety and atmosphere at the Spartak game.

- The club museum leaves a strong impression, especially on the technical side. How much did it cost?
- More than 200 million rubles. We have been working on this project for almost three years. I think we have created the best club football museum in the world.

- What is the situation with the monument to Cherenkov?
- “Spartak” is in constant contact with his family and city authorities. If everything goes as planned, we will announce a fundraiser. The club is ready to pay the cost of the monument. But the fans also deserved such a privilege - to pay for the monument to Cherenkov, thereby paying tribute to a great player and a great man.