Why Russian teams need bigger budgets than other European clubs?
I don’t know if you noticed that beside CSKA Moscow, two other Russian teams have a huge budget this season. It ‘s about Khimki Moscow Region – 4th in Euroleague with 33.4 M and Zenit Sankt-Petersburg – 7th place with 26.7 M. But in spite of their money these 2 Russian clubs are occupying lower positions in the standings. Khimki is temporary on the 8th spot but tied with Olympiacos, Fenerbahce and Armani Milan and they can be out of the playoffs any moment. In the same time, Zenit is fighting Bayern Munich to avoid the last spot of the Euroleague standings.
Why then the Russian clubs – excepting CSKA Moscow – having so much money are not showing great results on Europen level? There are a couple of reasons:
- to convince good players to come and sign in Russia is more expensive because logical not so many players are big fans of cold winters. If they can choose sunny destinations at the seaside like Valencia, Barcelona, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Malaga, Athens and so on, they won’t come to Russia. To motivate them you have to offer them bigger salaries than other European clubs. So the result is that you are buying more expensive players than the rest of the European teams. Mike James, for instance, wanted to remain in Milan for less money than he is making with CSKA.
- it is not only about the bad weather in Russia, but also about the long distances that you have to make as a player every week to face the other teams. Practically inside the European continent, all the journeys are around 2-3 hours, but from Russia to Europe many times you have to fly 8-10 hours. And then fly back and again inside Russia long distances to meet VTB League teams. A bit more complicated than to play for a team situated in the heart of Europe.
- Long travels imply as well more costs for the Russian clubs (flights, food, accommodation)
For all these reasons, the huge budgets of the Russian clubs don’t guarantee them very good players, good results and a playoff spot in the European competitions.
Photo: Image by zanna-76 from Pixabay
Gratian Cormos
