Leonid Slutsky is right. Lately he has often been right in his assessments.
Somehow the moment was missed when Slutsky, from a timid, harmless diplomat, carefully choosing his words on any occasion, turned into a kind of lightning-shooting truth teller, disdaining euphemisms and not shy about anything. Apparently, life as a coach has taken its toll. A little more and a response hurricane of criticism will fall on Alexander Bubnov, which will sweep away the last hairs from the wise head of the expert. Frozen in anticipation of this epic spectacle. For now let's talk about more important things.
Russia is not exactly a football country. Or not football at all. A country where there is no demand for football cannot be a football country. But there can be no doubt that there is no demand. Television ratings are such that our beloved Yevgeny Petrosyan can return to the air with his jokes. And the attendance, which fluctuates around 11-12 thousand, has been trumpeting for a long time: the population does not need football. And if it is needed, then only in exceptional cases like the triumph at Euro 2008, when even housewives, leaving their pots unwashed, poured into the streets to find out why the country had suddenly gone crazy.
Then there was a big celebration. Rare, historical, that’s why it’s so lush and delicious. But after every holiday, at best, a hangover occurs, at worst, withdrawal symptoms. Especially if the body is not ready or there are some contraindications. Well, or if you drink for a very, very long time. And assessing interest in football on such holidays is the same as determining the material well-being of a family by the holiday table: it can crack under the weight of all kinds of dishes, whereas on ordinary days it sees only bread and porridge.
On normal days, the attendance ratio in Russia is 9/1000. That is, in cities represented in the Premier League, an average of 9 people per thousand people go to stadiums. In Germany this figure is 79 people, in Holland - 78, in Portugal - 73, in England - 61, in Spain - 54. These, I admit, are slightly outdated figures (for 2011), unfortunately, I have others No. But in 2011, the turnout at Premier League matches was almost 1,500 people higher than now. That is, today the attendance rate has definitely not increased.
Once again: 9 people out of 1000 go to the stadium. Is this a football country?
You will say: the stadiums are bad (this will be said by inertia even after the 2018 World Cup), there is no infrastructure, prices, roads, beer, evil cops, and in general it is wrong to consider only stadium attendance. Ok, let's cross out TV ratings too. What shall we leave? Schools, sections? Okay, let’s cross out these arguments too. You can cross out for a long time. The truth will not be yours anyway. The conclusion, alas, is disappointing: fans do not need football. And football doesn't need fans. And the slogans of sports officials here are not much different from the speeches of parliamentary candidates. Only words. At the same time, everyone, including voters, knows that these are just words. But they continue to play at democracy.
Have you ever been surprised that clubs don't fight for you, the fans? Posters of the supposed Grigory Leps can be found on every corner, although you really, really don’t want to meet them. Posters for upcoming matches cannot be seen even through the Hubble orbital telescope. Clubs don’t fight for fans because clubs don’t need fans. I suspect that many clubs would prefer to get rid of their audience altogether. She, the audience, is constantly making noise, demanding something, watching your activities. And you, you know, are planning a transfer with the involvement of a dozen agents...
Throughout the civilized football world, clubs make money from fans. That’s why the fans are pampered and cherished there. In Russia, almost no one strives to make money – not only from fans, but in general. And it’s unlikely that the clubs themselves are to blame for this. If the state transfers a conditional 100 thousand rubles to me monthly, I will not strive to earn money either. And I don’t even give a damn about the conditions of my detention: 25 thousand for health, 25 for education, 25 for food, 25 for parents in the village. I will pretend that my health is in good shape, that I am educated no worse than Stephen Hawking, and that my parents have a vegetable garden, greenhouses and all that. I’ll binge watch TV shows, order more burgers, buy a softer chair - and enjoy life, praying to God that the state will continue to take care of me.
Clubs do not work with fans because they are busy with something else. Let's call it a title fight. Can fans show up themselves? Undoubtedly. But the likelihood of this decreases with the release of each new iPhone. For example, I don’t have a single (well, maybe one, maybe two) acquaintance of my age who would be interested in football at least at the level of “who became the champion last season.” Although, as boys, we kicked the ball together in any weather, in any conditions (more than once it happened right on the asphalt), on any occasion. But football was washed out of their hearts by time. And now it is something like background noise. Why? For what? How to fix?
But no way. There are no prerequisites for Russia to become a football country. A football country is not about world championships, stadiums and Halki. This is when the population is struck by a football epidemic. But here, on the one hand, football is such that it is very difficult to fall in love with it. In childhood - it may still be. But over the years it will still fade. Over the years you get smarter. And having grown wiser, you understand: there is nothing to love. On the other hand, the system is such that no one will make any attempt to interest you in football. Change football. In a clothing store they will tell you everything, they will bring you and take you away, despite all the whims, and they will say thank you on the way out. Clothing stores need you. And football clubs are fine without you. They fight for titles.
For some reason, everyone was wildly offended when Russian coach Leonid Slutsky said, and Semyon Slepakov sang, that Russia is a non-football country. It’s not a shame to be in the last roles in medicine, car production, and computer equipment. There is no shame in building roads that have to be repaired after a year, and not building sidewalks at all. It’s not a shame to be a country without water, a country of poor public transport. But to be a country whose athletes are worse than others in hitting the ball into the rectangular frame of the goal is bitter and offensive. We will tear the British flag to pieces whoever says that again!
But today Slutsky is the most advanced Russian coach, he has repeatedly led his team to the championship, and has worked abroad. You can remember as much as you like the times when the USSR was a football country and transfer the successes of Soviet football to Russian football. There was Lev Yashin, they became champions of Europe and the Olympic Games. There were great teams in 1986 and 1988. But in the last ten years there has been absolutely nothing to brag about.
In fact, we have the most boring team of the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. The only bright spot is the Euro 2008 semi-final. But then we immediately lost to Spain 1:4. And as in the best traditions of the national team of the early 90s, when, having lost all chances in the group at the World Cup, Cameroon was made a laughing stock, they decided to play whatever they could. It turned out unexpectedly well. After a well-deserved quarter-final victory over the Dutch, the whole country blew horns and waved flags.
Maybe this time everything will come together, especially since for the dream (of qualifying from the group) it is enough to beat Saudi Arabia and Egypt. There are options when four points will be enough in matches with these teams. To solve a global problem, one crooked penalty will be enough. Russia, as the host of the championship, has the right to count on a gift from the judges. There are few examples, perhaps.
A national trait is to take off your last shirt and give it to your guest. Pants too. And stand with a loaf of bread, but without trousers. Civilized hospitality is when the welcoming party is dressed neatly. And it was tidied up not because guests arrived.
Football is a game where you can win even in the complete absence of understanding who and where to run, as our team demonstrated in recent friendly matches. A crazy shot from 30 meters, a corner with its unpredictable rebounds and finishes. Any team can get lucky. But what will change in our football economy if we reach the top 16? What will change in the country?
The same Slutsky, in an interview two years ago, assured that the new infrastructure and new stadiums did nothing for the development of football. Few people go to stadiums here. We love this game, but 100 thousand people attended our domestic championship matches in the 50-60s of the last century. Now, to put it mildly, this is not the case.
And now it’s time to ask the question: why do we need Russia to be considered a football country? Will they be respected more on the international stage? Will citizens become happier? Well, our hockey players won Olympic gold - so what? We were proud for two days and again went to this tattered clinic.
In the case of the home World Cup, as well as the Olympics, the situation is different. But what always amazes. Based on the results of such major sports forums, the organizing countries report on how much they earned from hosting them. We reported on how much was spent and how much was stolen.
From an organizational point of view, we are excellent at hosting sports competitions at the highest level. The World Cup in Russia will once again confirm this, the guests will be delighted, and the media will vying with each other to quote Uruguayan and Belgian fans who enjoyed our hospitality. World football stars were greeted with bread and salt, songs and dances.
A national trait is to take off your last shirt and give it to your guest. Pants too. And stand with a loaf of bread, but without trousers. Civilized hospitality is when the welcoming party is dressed neatly. And it was tidied up not because guests arrived. It's always like this here...
The aggression from the current head coach and players who react nervously to criticism is unpleasant. It only testifies that in 7 years the country has not been able to prepare a combat-ready team. But these people are extremely confused. The pressure on them is truly monstrous. But this was the case with all the players from the countries that hosted the World Cup. And the Koreans even played in the semi-finals.
Eh, we wish we had seven more years... We are best at making plans and discussing prospects. When you need to solve a specific problem within a specific time frame, it happens extremely rarely. The regional development strategy for thirty years ahead is easy! But it’s not possible to close the sewer hatches so that children don’t fall into them. It’s easy to plan a major home renovation in 2043. Re-roofing in 2018 is not an option.
And now it’s time to ask the question: why do we need Russia to be considered a football country? Will they be respected more on the international stage? Will citizens become happier? Well, our hockey players won Olympic gold - so what?
Well, because when we dream, it is a collective effort, and when we begin to fulfill it, here we are faced with the notorious human factor. And there is still no tradition of being held accountable for what has been done, or rather what has not been done. Perhaps only football coaches are fired for unsatisfactory performance. Has at least one Saratov minister been kicked out for poor work? No. To get kicked out, you need to fall asleep in the back seat of a company car. And if you sleep in your own bed, you will be a minister until you get tired of it.
We also got good at explaining why it didn’t work out. And here everything goes well - player injuries, a limit on foreign players, a lack of competition in the domestic championship, an uneven field, different levels of players’ readiness, biased refereeing (if they don’t give a penalty), insufficiently high prize money, sanctions and counter-sanctions. They also shined a laser pointer in the eyes of our head of administration.
It’s better not to remember the Sochi Olympics. Sports facilities remained, but doping scandals put an end to the fate of many athletes. The expected triumph gave way to disgrace.
Disgrace is predicted at the World Cup, so there will be no disappointment. Our fellow countryman Smolov and company will not be able to perform worse than most Russian fans expect (as polls show).
But the team has disappointed our expectations so many times. Maybe he will deceive you in the other direction once? Kicked into the crowd, a series of ricochets and one hundred and fifty million were delighted. We need little to be happy.
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The specialist’s statement caused a wide public outcry. Do you agree with Slutsky? Is Russia really not a football power? Experts and readers of the Championship share answers and opinions in the traditional “Question of the Day” section.
Vyacheslav Koloskov, honorary president of the RFU:
- I agree with Leonid Viktorovich. I spoke about the fact that we are a non-football country back in the 90s. A football country is a result at all levels: the national team, youth, junior teams, successful performance of teams in European competitions, high attendance at national championship matches, financial support for clubs, developed infrastructure. We have nothing of this, so there is no need to be offended by Slutsky’s words. We are not a football power - this must be accepted as objectivity.
Nikita Simonyan, first vice-president of the RFU:
- But I don’t agree. We are a football country after all! We won the Olympic Games, the European Championship, and in Soviet times the stadiums were filled with fans. Now spectators have stopped attending matches in large numbers, but iconic games such as Spartak - CSKA are still interesting to people. Attendance patterns vary greatly due to the level of play and also because the modern generation has other entertainment options. Perhaps the situation will be affected by the opening of new modern arenas.
Andrey Kobelev, former head coach of Dynamo:
- If we take attendance, we can say that Russia is a non-football country. But the excitement around football in our country and the love of Russians for football suggests the opposite. The low attendance may be due to the presentation of the football. But I am sure that after the 2018 World Cup, when the country gets comfortable stadiums, interest should increase.
Alexander Mostovoy, former midfielder of the Russian national team:
- We have always been a football country, we have a rich football history! Previously, there were no seats at all in stadiums - only benches, but attendance was still at the same level. Another thing is that life has become different and people now save on everything. In this matter, the financial side is decisive, and inextricably with it goes the fact that we do not have good football. We are playing in the Russian Premier League, they say that the championship is growing, but this is not yet noticeable. It is simply not interesting to watch, except for matches with teams like CSKA, Spartak and Zenit.
Non-football country? How can the Russian team regain the trust of the public?
The reason for Russia's cooling towards its national team is known. The recipe for correcting the situation is, in general, the same.
Andrey Sozin, member of the RFU Ethics Committee:
- I think that Russia is not a football country. For many years, no stadiums were built in our country. We are too far behind life in terms of infrastructure, we simply don’t have it. Therefore, there is no culture of going to the stadium. It's time for Russian football clubs to turn to their fans. The fan wants to come to the stadium by car and park properly, and between halves he wants to have a tasty meal. This doesn't exist yet. We don’t have the best spectacle, and we also don’t have the infrastructure.
Ruslan Nigmatullin, former goalkeeper of the Russian national team:
- Of course, Brazil, Spain or Germany are more football-loving countries than Russia, although we also love football very much. In the 50-60s, we had full stadiums, then people went to all kinds of sports, because there was not an abundance of entertainment. We will become a more footballing country when we win the World Cup, but that is still a long way off.
Mihaly Grushevsky, famous artist and CSKA fan:
- I agree with Slutsky, because considering Russia to be the legal successor of the USSR in terms of football achievements is not entirely correct. Our successes were based on Ukrainian football, not the RSFSR. If we take as a basis that Brazil is a football country, then it turns out that in Russia they know nothing about football. If you look at how football is covered on Italian television, it turns out that in Russia it is not covered at all. If you look at what level they understand football in Spain, no one here understands it. At the moment we have a poorly developed football industry, God grant that stadiums appear by 2018.
Our opinion
Grigory Telingater, “Championship” columnist:
- Is our country a football country or not? This question is impossible to answer. There are no clear criteria here. Compared to Sri Lanka, we have a football country, a developed infrastructure and people are in love with the game. If we compare it with European countries, it is obvious that no, it is absolutely non-football. I would like to focus on successful examples. So the second answer is closer to me. I recently returned from the Olympics. I had a layover in Munich. On the plane, I sat by the window - I looked and was amazed. Every tiny village has a large football field. If only it were like this with us.
Modest-85:
- Rather, it was not Russia that was a football country, but the USSR! And in Russia, alas, there is low attendance, old infrastructure, professional clubs “die” every year. I’m already silent about children’s and youth football, sections and fields.
Dinamometer:
- Slutsky is wrong, football is our most popular sport. Everyone plays everywhere. Even in a vacant lot or a garbage dump. Another question is that the official doesn’t care, there are no normal conditions. We are a football country, despite everything!
tort12:
– Russia is a hockey country. Look at the trophies, Spartacians and connoisseurs.
First matches after the championship The national football team played in Europe. With a new coach. With new players. The still irritating Monte Dwarfs were not invited to join the squad. Every match is valuable - as hosts of the World Cup, we do not participate in qualifying matches. The beginning of September, a match on Tuesday evening - no cottages for you, no trips to pick mushrooms, a strong opponent (Ghana's coach, former Chelsea coach Abraham Grant, said that the team's goal is to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup) - and what do we see in stadium? Full house? No, it's not full. Moreover, towards the end of the match, fans began to stream home from the stands.
It's very easy to find the culprits that Russia is not a football country. It’s easier only for track and field athletes, who blame all their problems on the World Anti-Doping Association “WADA”, which catches them using prohibited drugs. Footballers haven't been caught for a long time. But the stadiums are not full during the national team match, or even during the Russian Championship. Moreover, Rostov, which was so brilliant last season and won silver medals, even saw its attendance drop. And the new Spartak stadium is filled only for important matches - with CSKA, with Zenit. And the matches “Orenburg” - “Amkar” attract no more than 5 thousand people. Therefore, it is no wonder that in the English Premier League clubs receive almost 2 billion euros in royalties from television broadcasts, while in our country it is 100 times less. , now competing with the Minister of Sports for the presidency, says: “Russia ranks 14th among the 15 leading leagues in terms of revenue from television rights - only 22 million euros per year ... Although income from television rights is the main one for any professional club. It is this that allows them to comply rules of financial fair play. In England, TV rights bring the league about 1.92 billion a year, in Italy - over 880 million euros, in Spain - 741 million euros, in Germany - 557 million, in France - 509 million, even in Turkey - 209 million. And in Russia - 22 million...”
Former head coach of the national team Russia and the CSKA coach were terribly lamented and revealed an open secret: they say, even in the MLS (American Soccer League - that’s what football is called in the USA) the stadiums are full. And in Belgium, Holland, Turkey, Greece. It is clear that we need not talk about the leading leagues - England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France. What upset Slutsky so much? “CSKA is the champion of Russia, plays in the Champions League, a luxurious stadium was built in the center of a metropolis of 15 million - and 7 thousand season tickets were sold. Are we a football country?.. - Slutsky asks a rhetorical question. - Our championship now is definitely no worse than in the 1990s. And the attendance statistics are getting worse and worse. Previously, I was sure that the new infrastructure would change people’s attitudes towards football. But practice shows that I was wrong... And the effect of the home World Cup, I’m afraid, will also be short-term."
I want to ask you, reader, will you buy a T-shirt of a Russian national team player? I wonder which one? Should you buy it for your child? The spectators of the match with Ghana, who came with children, are now unlikely to attend. They write on social networks: “After the Russia-Ghana match, there will be even less attendance. The kids gathered near the Russian team bus to take pictures and take autographs from the team players. It’s a shame, it must be very shameful, to refuse the children! Many were at football for the first time and persuaded their parents to wait (they waited "
I can believe that the fan didn’t lie, he himself saw many times how our players treat fans with disdain.
A sporty country can be by the number of people who regularly play sports, or by the number of fans who follow sporting events. When Iceland introduced chess into the school curriculum in the 1970s, this country topped the list of the most chess-playing countries in the world - the Icelanders surpassed even the USSR in terms of the number of grandmasters per capita. The impetus for the popularity of chess was the holding of the world championship match in Reykjavik between Robert Fischer and Boris Spassky.
This year's champions The Portuguese became European champions, with eight players aged between 18 and 24 years old. The Russian national team had only one such player on its roster - Alexander Golovin from CSKA. The young Portuguese, who became European champions, grew up watching the matches of their idols - Figo and company, who shone at the European Championships in 2000 and 2004. The last one, by the way, took place in Portugal. The Portuguese teenagers who watched that tournament turned out to be more motivated than ours. Is Portugal a football country? In Portugal, football is shown in any bar in the evening; the tour is extended over 4 days, from Friday to Monday, and from Tuesday to Thursday - European Cups.
And Türkiye is a football country a country? Sports journalist Fatima Gammi answered this question: “For every new uniform there is a queue, for tickets for a match there is a queue, for season tickets there is a queue, for the purchase of broadcast rights there is a queue of sponsors...”
We are hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup. And this championship, like Euro 2004 for Portugal, can become a platform for... Here I stopped. Look at the construction of our stadium.
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