May 21, 2015, 16:52 / Business

Fedun leaves the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of FC Spartak

Vice-president of Lukoil wants to transfer management of the club to professionals and promises to continue financing Evgeniy Fedorov Natalya Raibman Ilya Usov

Vice President of Lukoil Leonid Fedun leaves the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors of FC Spartak / D. Abramov / Vedomosti

The club's home arena is the Otkritie Arena stadium with a capacity of 42,000 people. Rights to the name for six years for 1.2 billion rubles. financial corporation bought by the Otkritie . Construction of the stadium began in 2010, and the opening took place last summer. It will host matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017, and the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

Vice President of Lukoil Leonid Fedun said on Thursday, May 21, that he is going to resign as chairman of the board of directors of the football club (FC) Spartak. Fedun's statement was published on the team's website. The top manager explained his decision with the desire to transfer Spartak into the hands of professionals.

“I sincerely, with all my soul, worry and root for the fate of Spartak and understand that the time has come to give authority to professionals,” Fedun said in his address. “Maybe they will be more successful and competent and lead the people’s club to new titles,” he noted.

In a statement, the chairman of the board of directors of FC Spartak recalled that under his leadership the club is completing its tenth Russian championship. During this time, according to Fedun, it was possible to create a solid material foundation for the team. “We have the best stadium in the country. Our academy... is recognized as exemplary not only in Russia, but also in Eastern Europe. Dozens of our students play in national teams of all ages. The club has a strong financial base,” he listed the achievements. Also, the vice president of Lukoil noted that for ten years there has not been a single delay in payments to players and partners, and the football club fully complies with the requirements of financial fair play.

Spartak became the silver medalist of the Russian championships five times. He regularly played in the Champions League and UEFA Europa League,” he recalled.

the authenticity of his appeal to the fans Fedun confirmed in an interview with R-Sport. He also stated that he "no longer comments on football matters."

“You will see everything. You don’t have to call me anymore: I don’t give any comments on football anymore and I’m just becoming a person who will finance and help Spartak,” the top manager commented on the situation to the Championship publication, emphasizing that now “decisions will be made by others.”

Fedun’s statement came as a surprise to members of the board of directors of the football club, TASS reported , citing a source in the management of Spartak. One of the members of this team’s management body, Dzhevan Cheloyants, when asked to comment on Fedun’s appeal, said that he had not yet read it, and recommended that the Sport Express website turn to the chairman of the club’s board of directors for clarification. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that he had read Fedun’s statement, but did not know the details.

Since 2003, the vice president of Lukoil has been the owner of Spartak. In 2005, he headed the team's board of directors. In an interview with Forbes, Fedun said that his expenses for the football club since the acquisition of the club amounted to $1 billion.

The Spartak football club was founded in 1922. The club is a 12-time champion of the USSR, 9-time champion of Russia, 10-time winner of the USSR Cup, 3-time winner of the Russian Cup. The last time Spartak won the Russian football championship was in 2001 under coach Oleg Romantsev. In the last two matches of the Russian Football Premier League, Spartak lost to Terek and CSKA with a score of 4:2 and 2:0, respectively. This season, after 28 games, Spartak is in sixth place with 43 points.

Spartak’s income is about 1.5–2 billion rubles, Fedun said in 2013. Lukoil annually sponsors Spartak for $7 million, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said in an interview with Vedomosti in January 2015 . Fedun planned that income would increase by 2.5–3 times: “This will be enough for the team to be at the top level and develop.”

The stadium is part of the large project “Tushino 2018”, which, in addition to the sports part (stadium, small arena, etc.), will include projects in the field of residential, retail and commercial real estate. Leonid Fedun has partners in this project - for example, the Rostec structure Vi Holding Development. Fedun, in an interview with Vedomosti in 2013, estimated his share of investments in this project at 100–140 billion rubles.

Fedun planned to hold an IPO of Spartak in 2017–2018.