Andrey Tikhonov , former player of the Russian national team, captain of FC Khimki:
“For the most part, I never liked the idea. There is only one absolute plus in the transition to "autumn-spring". When the program is fully implemented, that is, arenas are built, this will not only create favorable conditions for fans, but will also help the development of children's schools, whose pupils usually have to train in gyms during the cold season. But again, this program must first be completed.
And so the transition to "autumn-spring" is beneficial only to some leading clubs, no one asked the opinion of representatives of the first and second divisions. Because the Premier League is our main tournament. When smog covered Moscow, the games of the top division were canceled, and the rest had to play matches in unbearable conditions. Why do you think? There is the first grade, and there are the second and third, let it be said roughly, but it's true.
I don't think this transition will be smooth. And as they rightly say, if in three or four years the plan is not fulfilled, someone will have to answer for it.
I had to play in adverse weather conditions, including in the Champions League on ugly fields, where there is one earth with sand or puddles. And all this adds neither the quality of football, nor the interest of the fans, and in fact we play in the first place for them. I don’t think that at 7-8 degrees Celsius with wind and rain, someone will bring their family to the stadium.
Valery Nepomniachtchi , head coach of FC Tom:
- I am against this transition at the present time. If only because in terms of infrastructure, we are now completely unprepared for it. For the “autumn-spring” system, first of all, stadiums are needed that are ready to receive fans in any weather, high-quality fields ... At the moment, we practically have neither the first nor the second. And this applies not only to those who live beyond the Urals. You can see how difficult the construction of the Spartak and CSKA arenas is going on. The issue of the “autumn-spring” system was raised at meetings of the RFU more than once, but I personally did not see any movements, prerequisites for urgently switching to it.
There is some sort of conflict of interest here. Unlike us, top-level clubs benefit from this transition in terms of the commercial component, synchronization of transfer windows, competent preparation for European competitions even now.
For teams from, let's say, "non-capital" regions, where all funding is kept on the municipal budget and every penny counts, a certain economic aspect is of great importance. I mean the so-called third round, where the eight strongest - Moscow clubs, plus Peter and someone else will fight for medals, and all the rest, according to football leaders, "drain the swamp", that is, boil in their own juice. As a result, we simply lose additional income. After all, whatever you say, most of the spectators come to the matches with the leaders.
Vyacheslav Koloskov , ex-president of the RFU:
- The system "autumn-spring" is just a formality. Even the head of UEFA, Michel Platini, when asked about the transition, said: “This does not concern me, this is your business. Whatever you want, do it." For Europe it is absolutely indifferent. I don't think that thanks to the new system we will suddenly become better players, this is just one of the accompanying factors. The old one did not interfere with the victory of either the national team or the clubs.
Top teams have been participating regularly in European club competitions for many years and need to synchronize their calendars in order to have a stable result. At least in order to form a line-up of those players who won the championship now, and not a year ago, and fled to other teams. But these are just formal reasons that forced our clubs to repeatedly apply to change the existing tournament system. Positions regarding the pros and cons are completely different here, even within the Premier League. I'm not talking about the first and second divisions.
Now it is important to avoid the huge number of risks associated with football transformation. It is necessary to gradually determine in which regions, at what expense the construction of arenas, heated fields and other necessary attributes of frost-resistant football will begin. If it is the will of the highest sports leaders, then by 2012 you can have time to complete this program.