Top-flight swells to 24 clubs

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A pardon for two Russian clubs means that the country’s First Division, one level below the Premiere League, will feature 24 teams next season.

Originally, Alania Vladikavkaz and Lokomotiv Chita were relegated because of financial reasons. But the Russian Football Union (RFU) decided to pardon the clubs. Previously, the RFU had decided to move Mashuk Pyatigorsk and Lada Toglyatti up to the First Division to replace Alania and Lokomotiv, and after the ruling, the RFU allowed all four clubs to stay in the division.

Other clubs criticised the move.

“These additional four matches will cost us as much as two and a half million rubles (approximately GBP 25,000),” Fakel Voronezh director general Alexander Donder said. “Maybe it's peanuts for someone, but it's a big sum for Fakel.”

The league will start on March 26 and finish on November 11 and there will be no break for the World Cup.