Nail Izmailov: We are building a self-sufficiency system for Spartak

Browser " Soviet sports"Met with the vice-president of Spartak.

The Soviet Sport columnist met with Spartak vice-president Nail Izmailov and asked him about the economic and marketing aspects of the club.

"WORKED AND LEARNED"

- Do you really support Spartak from the age of seven?
- Yes, I've been sick since seven. I have been attending matches since 1989. Muscovite himself. Both grandfathers to the Great Patriotic war defended the capital, served here. One was an artilleryman, crew commander, the second a sapper. After the war, they remained in Moscow. And my parents were born here.

- Were you actively ill?
- I've been to matches regularly. Outside including.

- Hard version?
- For everyone. I did not enter the fan environment, but I am familiar with many.

- How did you make your way from a fan to the vice-president of Spartak?
- I worked and studied a lot (smiles). I went to work from the third year of the institute. The experience is very different - from retail, restaurant business, entertainment to construction, investment and banking. Then he received an invitation from Leonid Arnoldovich Fedun. Spartak is involved in the large Tushino-2018 project, which involves the development of the Tushino field. Several functional clusters are planned. Sports is the Otkritie-Arena, a new club base, a multifunctional indoor palace, which will be located next to the stadium, matches, competitions in other sports, concerts, exhibitions, conferences will be held there. Trade and office centers, hotels, a children's entertainment complex, schools, kindergartens, clinics, housing will be built. Actually a city. There is a lot of talk about the fact that all this is for the enrichment of investors. But construction costs are expected to be offset by income from home sales. Permanent income from other facilities will be sent to the club for the stable maintenance of its life and. This will allow Spartak to feel financially confident over time and lose absolute dependence on the state of shareholders.

- So you are building a self-sufficiency system for the club?
- Yes exactly. The same system is being built by the London Arsenal - the Highbury project and the Queensland Road. The Brooklyn Nets basketball, with its megamall, is a similar model. The club, if it wants to live and develop normally, needs constant replenishment budget. Relying only on the shareholder's money is inefficient.

- How did you get involved in this?
- I had experience in investment activities, I was engaged in this in one very large financial group. Housing, commercial real estate, mutual funds... I know this area professionally, which is probably why I received an invitation to Spartak four years ago.

Have you watched the Hollywood movie "The Big Short" about the 2008 crisis? If so, you must have understood the dialogues, consisting of 70 percent banking terms.
- There is no time left for cinema, work takes 24 hours a day. But since you advise, I'll take a look.

RESERVATION REQUEST

- You were called to work in construction and real estate, but you are in the football club for the vice presidency. How so?
- The club and Tushino-2018 are a single entity. It all started with the stadium, during the construction of which I managed a kind of management company, that is, I oversaw the construction as a future user of the facility. Now the strategic goal is to create an autonomous life support system for Spartak, to generate income through new and development of old facilities of the club, stadium and territory.

- Is the sale and purchase of players included in this system?
- Ideally, both parts, sports and infrastructure, should be profitable. Players are an asset that is bound to grow in value. True, while few people in Russia manage to achieve this. Vertical "academy - youth team- "Spartak-2" - the basis ", which is led by Sergei Rodionov, exists. But we often hear reproaches that our pupils go to other clubs, reveal themselves there, play better than us. So, there is something to add.

- Sergei Galitsky said that he used the classic cladding of the stadium made of travertine stone, because bright modern materials tend to fade. I immediately remembered the "Opening Arena".
- Our lining will not fade, everything is made with a margin. In addition, there are more important parameters. For example, stadium functionality, convenience and comfort, safety and logistics. Or the place where it was built. We are currently building arenas for the 2018 World Cup. In each case, is it calculated that the stadium will become the center of human attraction, the focus of sports and commercial life, the venue for mass events non-stop? Are there those who evaluate these investments professionally and with a perspective? Entire areas with transport and other infrastructure should be developed around the arenas. An illustrative example is England, London, where the growth in real estate prices in football areas in recent years is higher than in other non-football areas. Tushino-2018 has not yet been built, but around the stadium people are already jogging, walking dogs, cycling. Although the nearest residential buildings are on the other side of the busy Volokolamsk highway.

- Those who saw the arenas of the Portuguese Euro-2004, which are not in demand today, will agree with you. But back to the Spartak vertical. Is it hard for the club academy to keep up with the pace of "one a year for the foundation"?
- I'll make a reservation right away: I'm not responsible for the football part of Spartak. This is the estate of Sergei Rodionov. I will answer only because I took part in the development of some innovations. The desired "productivity" of the club system was fixed on paper. The coaches of all divisions are faced with such a task. Since this year, it has, in fact, been regulated. Coaches for performance will be encouraged, bonuses are clearly scheduled. Before there was no systematization. It is the replenishment of the base, and not a place in youth competitions or in the FNL, that is the main thing in preparing the reserve.

TV REVENUE IS ONLY 4 PERCENT OF THE BUDGET

- What are the terms of your duties in Spartak?
- The whole business component and the tools that help to ensure it. That is, a security department, a fan club, commercial and IT departments, a public relations department, a single technical center that ensures the operation of the stadium, the Academy in Sokolniki, the base in Tarasovka and the construction of a new base in Tushino.

- Are you a member of the board of directors of the club?
- No, I'm on the board of Spartak.

- How football business different from any other?
- Modern football is a huge business, coupled with the passion and excitement of millions. The profitability of such a business can be very high if the level of management of all participants is appropriate. Globally - no different from many others. It is a symbiosis of different types of business, from retail sales and tickets to real estate transactions. The main product produced is human emotions. They should be such that the fan was pleased to realize his involvement in the club. In any marketing strategy football club there are three pillars - sports success, the number of fans and their activity, the budget of the club. They are not directly dependent, but very noticeably affect each other.

- How did Spartak's 13-year absence of titles affect the number of fans?
- We recently launched a large study on this topic, including in the regions. We have developed a methodology, we want to understand the dynamics. As regularly as the number of our social media followers, merchandising, ticket program, we want to analyze the change in the number of fans. And not only in quantitative, but in qualitative terms. Whether there have been fewer of them over the past 13 years, I don’t know yet. But there are results of the English study. A person begins to get sick at the age of 6 to 12 years and after that in 90 percent of cases does not change club addictions. The main thing that influences the choice of a club is friends, family, environment; then by a wide margin - the team's sporting successes; in third place is some item you like: a scarf, a pen, a T-shirt, that is, merchandising. Liverpool have not been champions of England for 26 years, but it is unlikely that they have lost much in the growth of fans.

We understand that there is a danger of losing the young due to the lack of titles. We are trying to compensate for this. The Spartak Kids program, for example, makes the visit of children and families with children to our stadium memorable and enjoyable. The family sector at every match is almost full. Another example is the huge popularity of shares with our partner Nissan in recruiting children to the Spartak Academy. This was done in different cities. Luck could smile at two or three boys, no more. But in Krasnodar, for example, 2,500 parents came to the wild heat, the event dragged on for several hours!

- Is it possible to compare the economy of Spartak with the leading foreign clubs? Or are they different worlds?
- The filling of the budget is radically different, if we talk about the top leagues in Europe. There, income from the sale of television rights is about 30 percent. Spartak has less than four. Despite the fact that match day revenue, that is, the total profit on the day of the match, we have a similar one - about 25 percent of the budget.

- It's strange: the clubs have a penny from television, but they don't bother the RFPL at all about this.
- Our television shows football for free, nothing can be done about it.

SPARTAK CANNOT EXIT THE POOL

- How is the price of tickets and subscriptions formed?
- After the opening of the stadium, we focused on numbers previous season. It doesn't matter where you play: emotions are sold, and they do not depend on the arena. Comfort, convenience, safety, parking, food can change, but the stadium itself is just a box that, if used correctly, can turn into an effective business tool. Therefore, we took the history of pricing in Luzhniki and Cherkizovo as a starting point, increasing the added value by a number of VIP categories. To change the price for ordinary fans would be disrespectful to them.

- Do not change - optimize.
- That's why the analysis of the ticket program is being carried out now. Based on the dynamics, in each segment we will get the opportunity to regulate prices pointwise. Of course, we will take into account the results of the team and the expectations of the fans before the season.

- Then you should sell season tickets for half of the season. After all, expectations before autumn and spring are most often different.
- Dynamic pricing is also in our plans. When not only the result is taken into account, but also the lead time of the sale, the day, the time of the game, the weather, and so on. There are difficulties, but we already had experience in selling season tickets for a series of matches. It is possible that we will return to it.

- Doesn't the lack of a clear calendar for the season bother you? Sometimes the day and time of the start of the match is found out almost a week before the game.
- Here we are hostages of television. The unpredictable program grid dictates the conditions for us too. Transfers of matches for participants in European competitions - too. In England, the calendar is clear a year ahead; there, even grandfathers went to matches according to the current schedule. The British keep traditions, we don’t have constancy in any way. Although the first sprouts have appeared: we see how people in the new season are happy to purchase subscriptions to their homes, know their neighbors, communicate with them in a friendly way. It's important for football. A person, coming to the arena, feels belonging to his favorite team and has an influence on what is happening through his support. This is especially valuable, it is one of those components that allows the team to win.

- It's still not clear. 4 percent of TV is ridiculous money. By leaving the pool, you would receive more.
- Exit the pool means to ruin the entire component of the League. "Real" and "MU" do not leave the pool, which means that not everything is so simple. Besides, we are all in the same boat in a sense.

Dumping Corrupts

- Why do you keep high prices for guest tickets? In response, your fans are also being sold expensive tickets.
- We do not raise the price artificially. In similar sectors, it is the same for foreign and our fans.

- If both clubs made prices lower, the Spartak sector in second leg would be fuller.
- Direct exchange is impossible, there is no such practice anywhere in the world. In addition, prices for guests and hosts for identical seats should not differ according to the regulations. We offer a service that has a cost of 1000 rubles. The price of the service at another stadium may be different depending on the convenience, comfort and other factors. Artificial lowering of the price corrupts the consumer. It is possible to distribute tickets for free, but it is unlikely that in the long run this will attract a fan and teach him to support the team in all ways.

- How many season tickets have you sold for this season?
- About 15 thousand. 30 percent arena occupancy.

- Is Spartak a self-sustaining club?
- I would say - the closest to self-sufficiency of the Russian clubs.

- Are there any problems with financial fair play?
- We were admitted to European competitions, so no. A certain budget deficit, subject to a number of conditions, UEFA allows. They look at such details as the relevance of income, for example: the cost of advertising sponsorship contracts should not exceed the market value.

- To what extent has the commercial potential of the new stadium been realized?

There is room for growth. We want to make, for example, free wi-fi in the stands, so that the fans have access to the club's mobile application. It will include news, photo and video content, ticket services, the opportunity to buy goods in the club shop, delivery of drinks and food to a place on the podium, location of oneself and search for acquaintances at the stadium through a personal account. We are finishing a project with four mobile operators, in December a stable 4G signal should appear on the arena. We expect to launch an official online service for the resale of Ticket exchange tickets by fans to each other. If a person cannot go to the match, but he has a season ticket or a ticket, he will be able to officially resell the opportunity to visit the game. This is popular in England and Germany. Despite the fact that Spartak sells about 70 percent of all tickets and subscriptions online.

THE BEST MUSEUM IN THE WORLD

- How else are you fighting for the audience?
- Different ways. We organize children's football camps, hold school tournaments - 15 thousand people came to the final of one of them, which was held in the schools of the North-West Administrative District of Moscow this year. We use the possibilities of media. We work closely with the base of fans, about which we know a lot, starting with who they come to the stadium with, ending with gastronomic and preferences. We congratulate them on the holidays. People are pleased to receive a personal video greeting and an invitation to a match from a team player on their birthday. We connect club partners to the loyalty program. We have been using a customer relationship management system (CRM) for a long time. The ticket program, access control, loyalty program, merchandising, monitoring of relations with our partners, catering and so on are connected to it.

We cooperate with charitable foundations, we recently launched a program with the Leukemia Foundation, we plan to connect organizations that help sick children, orphans and low-income families. We help people with disabilities attend matches. A lot of work in this direction is being carried out by our new employee Alexander Sergeev, who uses a wheelchair himself.

Do you have enough non-football events at the arena?
- Presentations, conferences, test drives, children's events are constantly going on. But we are ready and want to do more. Two concerts are planned next season. More often it is fraught for the field: we cover it with scaffolds, but in our climate this is not very useful for the grass either.

- 13 thousand rubles for a modest autumn jacket in a Spartak store - not too expensive?
- We are dependent on the manufacturer, our margin is low.

- Do you plan to bring the Spartak brand to the international level?
- Mainly through promotion mobile application. Open fan clubs? But why, given today's Internet capabilities? But what we are planning is a network of branches football academy. Bonnies will appear in the cities of Russia, and we want to make one in China. And in the same place to open a club office. In Hong Kong or Shanghai, negotiations are still underway. This will allow to establish a dialogue with a huge country and, possibly, sponsors. Moving to Europe, where the positions of leading clubs are strong, is futile, we will not compete with them. Our fans, on the other hand, get emotions at a distance, watching matches on the Internet. A friend from Los Angeles got to the game in Moscow, calmly buying a ticket in America through an online service and was impressed by the comfort, safety and atmosphere at the Spartak game.

- The club museum leaves a strong impression, especially the technical side. How much did he cost?
- More than 200 million rubles. We have been working on this project for almost three years. I think that they have made the best club football museum in the world.

- What is the situation with the monument to Cherenkov?
- "Spartak" is in constant contact with his family and city authorities. If everything goes as planned, we will announce the collection of donations. The club is ready to pay the cost of the monument. But the fans also deserved such a privilege - to pay for the monument to Cherenkov, thereby paying tribute to the great player and great man.

After the end of the first part of the season, the deputy chairman of the board of directors of Spartak answered questions from a Match TV correspondent.

- Spartak seriously improved before the break and shares the second or third place with Zenit. But will the breakaway from Lokomotiv allow you to aim for more?

If we have managed to radically change the situation in the table now, why not continue in the second round? Time will show.

- By what means did they restore nervous system after 0-7 at Liverpool?

We gathered at the hotel after the game with members of the board and board of directors, discussed the match and went to bed. Here are the means.

- Everything is quiet, calm?

What's the point of making noise? Yes, it hurts, it hurts. We did not have a serious experience of participating in European competitions, which was confirmed by the match with Liverpool. There was a reason to think about what we are doing wrong. Certain conclusions were made, as shown by the game with CSKA. It is clear that the high stages of the main club tournament in Europe are not yet the most achievable goal for us. And the task before the season was formulated as follows: worthy participation in the Champions League.

Alexander Selikhov / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexei Filippov

- What was worthy?

If you do not take into account these 0:7 - yes. Reaching the spring part of the Europa League is worthy. You can’t set yourself unrealistic goals, because this has the opposite effect: realizing that they can’t be fulfilled, people reduce the requirements for themselves and stop fulfilling them altogether.

- But there is another point of view: you would be forgiven for 0:7, if not for two draws with the outsider "Maribor".

Both are offensive. But they are also an experience that has not been there for a long time. Like 5:1 against Sevilla.

- Rate Spartak for the first part of the season.

- “Good”, judging by the current standings RFPL. Although there were many inconsistencies.

- Of all the rivals of Russian clubs in the Europa League, is Spartak the most serious one?

Didn't she work?

In the summer, according to my information, the proposals and conclusions of the selection department were ignored by the coach. Who will look for candidates now?

You have incorrect data. Maybe someone wanted to see problems in Spartak, but in reality there were none. They worked closely together. And someone on the side tried to put unnecessary rumors into rotation. In fact, the mechanism remains the same: some candidates are proposed by the coach, others by the selection department. Then - discussion and choice. Within budget.

- How big is it?

I won't name the amount, of course. But it is important to remember about financial fair play.

Does he push you hard?

Very. Cruel tool. Limits - but also stimulates to earn more.

- What are the priority lines for amplification?

Defense for sure.

Will Tasky leave?

Taking into account the spring part of the European Cups and the upcoming matches of the Cup of Russia, I would not like to lose anyone from the current squad. It's too early to talk about the rest.

- A significant amount of compensation, prescribed in the contract of Promes, is able to protect Spartak from his departure?

There really is such a sum. But we must understand that this is not a dogma that excludes the negotiation aspect.

Quincy Promes "destroys" Sevilla after a chic individual pass and an accurate shot on target / Photo: © Vasily Ponomarev / Edgar Breshchanov / Sportbox.ru

- Did the club receive official offers to buy Promes?

On this moment No.

How true is the interest of Spartak voiced by the press in midfielder Patrick Twumasi from Astana?

There is no interest, we are not considering buying it. Yes, and it is unlikely that it would be a gain. Another information "stuffing", of which there have already been many.

- And yet again about the selection. Who will lead it?

The final decisions, like last summer, are up to the head coach. Naturally, within the budget.

- In the summer it was the same. But the selection policy of Spartak smacked of controversy.

Perhaps it seemed that way from the outside. But there is centralization, interactions are debugged, everything will go on as usual.

There were complaints about the behind-the-scenes celebration of the championship. A small hall for their own - and no fans.

A holiday for the fans was at the stadium during the presentation of the championship cup. That's how it was originally planned. 45 thousand people came, people ran onto the field, thanked the team, and the team thanked them. I have not heard that the championship was celebrated on such a scale somewhere else. Everyone was happy. And the awarding of the medals took place in a more intimate atmosphere, which is normal.

- How many of them were, by the way, medals? Really four hundred? Didn't this devalue the champion's prowess?

Far less. We considered it necessary to thank with medals the staff of the club, who gave years of their lives to this championship. Quite natural, in my opinion. It would be wrong to do otherwise: in victory there is a piece of work of everyone who works in Spartak. We definitely did not hand out medals right and left, each of them is well-deserved.

- Why was the restaurant at the Spartak stadium handed over to CSKA fans?

Well, it's not in that steppe at all. It's not really like that. Was children's day birthday with a football theme. A girl who is a fan of Spartak. Children and parents came supporting different clubs. Someone in a Barcelona jersey, someone with an Ajax scarf, someone in a CSKA uniform. It is strange not that it happened, but that we are discussing it at all.

- With what feelings did you read the interview with the driver of the Spartak bus?

Sorry, but I didn't read the interview with the bus driver.

- Will fire shows at Spartak's home matches remain the norm?

Pyrotechnics are prohibited in stadiums, which means that this cannot be the norm. We do our best to prevent it. Even though it's not easy. At the match with CSKA, for example, the search was carried out by police cadets. Did not help.

- Do you think the fans have the right to demand influence on the club, not being its shareholders?

Fans are our support, we always listen to them. Moreover, we will soon create a platform for fans to vote on certain issues. WITH feedback in the form of answers to their questions. Hope it works by the end of the season. We live and work for them. Of course, we are interested in their opinion.

You spoke about the emphasis on your own pupils. Are there quantitative "orders", and if so, what are they?

If the world of football worked according to orders, the viewer would not be interested in watching this. The installation of the young into the base should take place naturally. If at least one of the season will be able to replenish the main team, it will be nice.

- Do you often attend Spartak-2 and youth matches?

I do not often, Sergei Rodionov comes to every game. Not a single one is missed.

What about Carrera?

Both reserve teams train in Tarasovka, they are constantly in front of the head coach.

Why does a foreign coach need Spartak youth? Long tedious process. And the result is needed here and now.

Not certainly in that way. The tasks set by the Board of Directors for this season: a worthy participation in the Champions League, getting into the top three in the Russian Championship and winning the Russian Cup. This completely allows you to raise your own pupils to the level of regular base players.

- Do you want to say that Spartak is not faced with the task of defending the championship?

It has been in front of us for many years. And we wandered with this task all over the table, except for the very top. Finally, the understanding came: forward movement is required. And four years ago, the strategy changed. Since then, this is exactly how we have been developing - progressively. For four years we cooked porridge from an ax, built and polished the team until we got the one that wants, can and does what was planned. Because only progressive development provides the team with the future. Within the framework of this idea, graduates of the academy should also develop. They need game practice in the first team - otherwise there will be no progress.

Massimo Carrera during the match between Spartak and FC Spartak-Nalchik / Photo: © Edgar Breshchanov / Vasily Ponomarev / Sportbox.ru

- What form of accountability of the head coach to the club exists in Spartak?

Once every six months, all coaches of all teams report to the Board of Directors. Including Carrera. The dynamics of the growth of players, their potential, possible mistakes coaching staff, conclusions from these mistakes. Standard permanent procedure for several years.

- Does the Board of Directors only listen or set tasks too?

Certainly, both.

That is, Carrera only once every six months has the opportunity to hear: “Massimo, something is storming you in the distance - sometimes 0:7, then 3:0; instability, however?

Sergei Rodionov and I visit Tarasovka at least once or twice a week. So hear like Main coach maybe much more often.

- What are the reserves for the growth of home attendance?

It's hard to come up with something revolutionary. We should rather talk about strengthening those areas that we have been successfully working on for a long time and, by the way. The quality of the game - one, the work in the media space - two, the improvement of service for fans on match days - three. Much has been done and much remains to be done.

- To what extent will Spartak's life be complicated by the World Championship, the matches of which will be held at the Otkritie Arena?

Complicate - not entirely true. There is a lot of technical work to be done, the regular activities of the services and services of the club, which are now being carried out not on match days, will be interrupted for some time. We will have to take into account a completely different contingent of fans, requiring a different approach. We will give the stadium to the organizing committee, then we will return it, adapt it to club life and continue to operate it. Of the pluses - during the World Cup, the arena will be officially called the Spartak Stadium. For the club and society - a good advertisement.

- Is the problem of agency clans palpable for Spartak?

If there is such a problem, it does not affect Spartak. What does an agent need? Good contract for the ward and commission. We work with different agents, Russian and foreign, we do not skew in someone's direction.

- How many wards of Marco Trabucchi are playing in Spartak now?

Marco is one of those involved in Spartak's transfer deals as an intermediary. Without the slightest heel in his direction. The club definitely does not have “basic” agents.

Denis Glushakov and Massimo Carrera / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexander Vilf

- Were you shocked when you read Glushakov’s: “Carrera is not a top coach”?

Heading - yes. The essence of what was said - no, because the phrase was taken out of context. Most importantly, the captain and coach have a great relationship, and no headlines can change that.

Photo: RIA Novosti / Vitaly Belousov, RIA Novosti / Alexei Filippov, Vasily Ponomarev / Edgar Breshchanov / Sportbox.ru,

- The owner of Spartak, Leonid Fedun, recently proposed a series of reforms in Russian football. What work is being done by the club to implement these proposals?

- Now we are preparing letters to all leagues: RFPL, FNL and PFL, we are sending an appeal to the Ministry of Sports and we hope that all our proposals will be considered at the next executive committee.

- Why change the usual structure so radically popular game?

- Several goals are pursued here at once, because the proposed reforms are pointwise aimed at improving certain components of the game. But I will single out the main priorities: this is improving the quality of football itself and the growth of spectator interest in the matches of the domestic championship. For this, a proposal was put forward. Thus, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the game in comfortable, safe arenas, and the quality of the TV picture will also increase, which, in our opinion, will affect the overall growth of interest in the Premier League.

— And what about reforming the game grid? It turns out that the current calendar still does not suit Russian clubs?

- Yes, indeed, this story is repeated every year, every season we try to transfer games from cold regions to the summer period, but this is still difficult. I would like such questions to be automatically taken into account when forming the calendar - it is with this approach that it will be possible to avoid a lot of difficulties for both clubs and their fans.

- Your club has also received a proposal to introduce a mandatory bonus system for children's coaches who have trained players for the Premier League, and to tighten the current limit on foreign players. It turns out that Spartak came to the defense of the young Russian football players?

“It is important to understand here that spot work will not fundamentally solve the problem. Unfortunately, even if the limit is tightened, new young stars with Russian passports will not appear overnight. So, in addition to introducing a limit, we need to pay attention to children's coaches, football schools, youth and youth competitions. And then, having carried out reforms in all these areas, we will be able to get the first results and increase the number of potential players for the Russian national team - it's no secret that today the coaching staff has a choice national team not so big.

- And yet your proposals look a little tough, especially for clubs that do not consider themselves to be among the elite of Russian football. Are there any fears that colleagues will not accept your project?

- Yes, we are ready for the fact that many clubs will react to our reforms without much joy. After all, objectively, except for the top teams, few people will find these proposals interesting. But let's look at the situation objectively: we all pursue different goals. For some, the main task is to represent the region in the Premier League, for others it is to show good football, to develop schools, to represent the country in European arenas. But we are talking about a global reform of all football in Russia, so sooner or later everyone will come to a common understanding.

• Nail Izmailov: "Our goal is to make the Russian championship better and more popular"

“After 0-7 at Anfield, there was deathly silence in the dressing room”

- You talked about goals and repeatedly noted that Spartak will continue to fight for the championship. But don't you think that the club lost too many points at the start of the season?

- We lost a lot, I won’t deny it, and in general we started the season very vaguely. There were reasons for this - both external and internal, subjective and objective. It was a difficult moment, but thanks to the guys who found the strength to pull themselves together and complete this year with dignity. We are in the top three, we have with Zenit, so I will regard this intermediate result as positive.

- In the fall, a whole information company unfolded around Spartak, mostly with a pronounced negative connotation. How did you manage with thiscope with?

- The thing is that the situation in which we find ourselves is definitely beneficial to someone. Someone who is outside the club.

Inside — to all employees, coaches, players and administration — such stories interfered with productive work. We held several meetings, gathered at the base in Tarasovka, in my office, talked a lot with Massimo Carrera, with everything coaching staff and together they developed a mechanism that allowed us to rally.

In addition, we found the strength to return the lost motivation and believe that, despite the gap from the competition, the team is able to fight for the second championship.

- Have you established the cause of the loss of motivation?

- It's psychology. As people say, they went through fire, water and copper pipes, and with them glory, awards, medals and recognition. Alas, the team was not ready to win time after time. But there are also positive moments: once in a stressful situation, the guys became stronger. The last rounds of the Premier League are vivid proof of this.

- And how do you regard the results in the Champions League? It is unlikely that the score was 0:7 in the final match group stage club management considered satisfactory?

“Today, for our team, this is primarily a tournament that allows us to gain invaluable experience of playing on the international arena and play with eminent rivals. For many guys, such matches happened for the first time in their lives. Having received this invaluable practice, players will continue to progress and grow. I assess the overall performance of the club in the Champions League as positive, besides, even before the start of the season, the task was clearly formulated: to play decently in the Champions League. Worthy - this does not mean reaching the next round or getting into the Europa League. Worthy is to perform at the limit of your capabilities, draw the right conclusions and improve the overall quality of football.

• Reuters

- You were with the team in Liverpool. What was the atmosphere like in the dressing room after the defeat?

- There was dead silence. Of course, we were all hurt - such defeats are not so easy to survive. But, I repeat, for all of us it was first of all an experience, so, if we lose 0:1 or 0:7, the result is the same for the tournament layout. In Liverpool, the team went out to play to win, to fight for the right to play in the tournament further - in such a situation, either hit or miss.

- Were you worried about the psychological state of the players? Many experts said that, for example, Alexander Selikhov should not be bet on the match against CSKA.

- Although Sasha is young, he is a very promising, high-quality and professional player. Still, they saw the match with CSKA - he, and the whole team, were able to rehabilitate themselves for those seven goals in England.

- After the victory over CSKA, Leonid Fedun said that the team would completely make amends only if they beat the leading Lokomotiv with a score of 4:0. It's a joke? Or do you really believe that it is still possible to catch up with the railroad workers?

— Of course, everything is possible, we are the creators of our own success. Without looking back at the opponent, we will take points in each of the remaining ten matches. So every game in the spring is like a final.

“Talks about Promes leaving are irrelevant”

- You resign very quicklysali contract with Giorgi Jikia. Playerwas so interested in extending cooperation, or was the club's management spurred on by rumors about his possible departure to Zenit?

— Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for many, the team does not work based on rumors and gossip. We live in the real world and in real facts. Jikia is a talented guy, he proved his right to play, and we need him without any doubt. In addition, we discussed the option of extending and increasing payments in case of successful actions on the field a year ago, when he had just joined Spartak.

- It's no secret that in the summer Massimo Carrera told you the names of those players with whom he wants to work. Now such a top list from the coach exists?

I would like to make the following clear: And by the way, in the summer, despite all the rumors and speculation that enveloped the club, they acted the same way. There is a wish of the head coach - these are positions and names, and there are proposals from the selection department. Having collected all these lists together, we begin the discussion. But believe me, the head coach always has the last word, he has to play and work with them, so the whole prerogative for choosing the players is with him.

• Nail Izmailov: "We live in a world of real facts"

What market will you focus on?

- This is equally the RFPL and the European championships. We look not only at Russian players, we also need strong legionnaires.

- Have you marked the lines that need to be strengthened?

— Of course, but I will not tell all the details of future transactions yet. I want to say something else: in addition to attracting highly qualified football players, we really want to develop our own youth, to rely on our pupils, so we will try to strengthen the main squad thanks to their involvement.

— And what is the situation with existing contracts? In the summer, Serdar Taski wanted to leave the club, and even now he honestly admits that he has not yet made a final decision. Will his contract be re-signed?

- He has a contract with Spartak until the end of the current season, the final decision will be made later, during the final negotiations.

- ANDdo they have soil under themRumors that Quincy Promes might leave the team and go to England?

- Not at the moment. And, in general, I really don’t want to destroy the champion squad, which is quite capable of repeating and surpassing its last year result.

• globallookpress.com

“Liverpool cannot forget the performance of our fans”

- Last year, you entered into a dispute with Zenit for the title of the most popular club countries, and, according to the results of the VTsIOM poll, Petersburgers won. Did you request new information?

— At VTsIOM? We don't need it. We receive data at our stadium, at away matches. Our fans are with us always and everywhere. Here everything is clear and understandable.

— The club is actively working with fans. Does the loyalty system for season ticket holders justify itself?

- By and large, the full taste of this program, launched several years ago, we were able to understand only now, during the Champions League matches. The system works: many fans have purchased real tickets for European matches with the accumulated points without spending a penny. In addition, this approach blocks the air for speculators. The fans themselves have rated this system very positively.

- Is Spartak fighting for a new audience?

— Of course, the success of the club on the Russian and international arenas contributes to attracting fans.

- What plans for the development of the club are building "Spartak"?

- The priority for us is the improvement of the children's and youth program. It is in young talents that the future of both Spartak and the Russian team is. Therefore, we pay great attention to this. But we also plan to expand the boundaries, in particular, we are working on entering the Chinese market. We plan to develop football in this country, which will be carried out under the emblem of Spartak.

- After the incident in Maribor, there were no particular complaints about the discipline of the fans of the red-and-whites. How did you manage to achieve this?

— We are in constant contact with representatives of fan movements. Both players, coaches and club management meet with them.

- At the Champions League matches, the fans of the Moscow club were marked by colorful performances.

- Performances performed by Spartak fans in Europe are still remembered with a shudder. I met with the president and director of Liverpool, they cannot forget the image and the inscription on the banner that was posted at the match in Moscow. This made an indelible impression on the British delegation.

- Does the club provide any assistance to fans in creating such banners?

- We help in the matter of interaction with any government agencies, but the fans finance the performance themselves. We are very grateful to them for this. There are no analogues to this in Russia. The performances of our fans are considered not only the best in Russia, but also one of the brightest in Europe.

• Nail Izmailov: "Klopp still can't forget the performance of our fans"

How can you comment on the rocket launcher incident in Maribor?

- This case cannot be attributed either to the shortcomings of the Russian fans, or to the problems on the part of Spartak. screening system and General terms the organization of the match in Slovenia was at a low level, which had never been seen before in Europe. Despite the fact that everything was terrible there, the UEFA inspector (Union of European Football Associations. — RT) gave them a good rating.

- What exactly were the problems?

- Due to problems with the access system, there were one and a half times more Russian fans at the match compared to the quota - the organizers let absolutely all the fans through, and then simply closed them in the arena. How this could happen, it is worth asking the management of Maribor.

- Did Sevilla do the right thing by not allowing Russian fans to the Champions League match?

- according to the letter of the law - the club received a ban from UEFA on the admission of fans from Russia to the stands and began to sell personalized tickets in order to exclude all sorts of violations of this decree in every possible way. As a result, even those who obtained tickets through resellers could not pass the control at the stadium.

- Do you get the impression that Spartak is under more public scrutiny due to the upcoming 2018 World Cup and stories foreign media about the cruel Russian fans?

- Spartak is a leader in everything: in football, organization, fan movement, business and work with academies. Naturally, because of this, there is a certain subjectivity in relation to the club, attempts are being made to harm Russia in general and us in particular.

Take, for example, the incident with accusations of racism against the captain of the Spartak youth team. We will defend his rights at a meeting of the UEFA Disciplinary Commission, as we are sure of his innocence.

- Where such confidence?

He does not speak English well enough to say such rude words to a person with a different skin color.

- Is this due to not the most friendly attitude towards Russian sports?

- I think you can draw parallels, because now they look at Russia with a special squint.

“Before the World Cup matches, the stadium is waiting for changes”

— In 2017, the Otkritie Arena stadium hosted the games of the Confederations Cup. Did FIFA have any complaints?

— We work closely with the organizing committee of Russia-2018 and FIFA, we received high marks for hosting the matches of the tournament. The reason for this can be considered a great experience in organizing competitions of the high level. There are people working in Tushino with vast experience in organizing tournaments, which, perhaps, none of the RFPL teams has.

- Before the Confederations Cup, the stadium was modified, in particular, the number of seats for journalists increased. Will such work be carried out before the World Cup?

- That's right, we will need to re-rotate spectator seats. At FIFA, we will again increase the working areas for media representatives, the so-called hospitality area, and expand the areas for restaurants. There will be changes in the logistics of the stadium, the teams will enter the field in a different way. But do not think that such works will have a negative impact on ordinary viewers. The ticket program has been launched and is being successfully implemented, including for matches at our stadium.

- Most recently, the president of Lokomotiv, Ilya Gerkus, said that the club was seriously thinking about installing a retractable roof over the stadium. Have you ever had such thoughts?

- There will be no rebuilding at our stadium in the near future. By the way, we considered the option with a roof during the development of the Arena Opening project, but so far we have not returned to this issue. Now there are simply no necessary resources, it is very expensive, and Spartak is already not in the best position regarding the financial principle of fair play.

The deputy chairman of the board of directors of the capital Spartak, Nail Izmailov, in an interview with RT, explained what goals the red-and-white leadership is pursuing, suggesting that the Premier League carry out fundamental reforms. He also shared his transfer plans, told how the team managed to get out of the crisis, and revealed the details of the relationship with the fans.

"Our goal is to make the Russian championship better and more popular"

The owner of Spartak, Leonid Fedun, recently proposed a series of reforms in Russian football. What work is being done by the club to implement these proposals?

Now we are preparing letters to all leagues: RFPL, FNL and PFL, we are sending an appeal to the Ministry of Sports and we hope that all our proposals will be considered at the next executive committee.

- Why change the usual structure of a popular game so radically?

Several goals are pursued here at once, because the proposed reforms are pointwise aimed at improving certain components of the game. But I will single out the main priorities: this is improving the quality of football itself and the growth of spectator interest in the matches of the domestic championship. For this, a proposal was put forward to reduce the participants in the national championship to 14 teams. Thus, the audience will have the opportunity to watch the game in comfortable, safe arenas, and the quality of the TV picture will also increase, which, in our opinion, will affect the overall growth of interest in the Premier League.

And what about reforming the game grid? It turns out that the current calendar still does not suit Russian clubs?

Yes, indeed, this story repeats itself every year, every season we try to transfer games from cold regions to the summer period, but so far this has been difficult. I would like such issues to be automatically taken into account when forming the calendar - it is with this approach that it will be possible to avoid a lot of difficulties for both clubs and their fans.

Your club has also received a proposal to introduce a mandatory bonus system for children's coaches who have brought up players for the Premier League, and to tighten the current limit on foreign players. It turns out that Spartak came to the defense of young Russian football players?

It is important to understand here that spot work will not fundamentally solve the problem. Unfortunately, even if the limit is tightened, new young stars with Russian passports will not appear overnight. So, in addition to introducing a limit, we need to pay attention to children's coaches, football schools, youth and youth competitions. And then, after carrying out reforms in all these areas, we will be able to get the first results and increase the number of potential players for the Russian national team - it's no secret that today the choice of the coaching staff of the national team is not so great.

And yet your proposals seem a bit harsh, especially for clubs that do not consider themselves to be among the elite of Russian football. Are there any fears that colleagues will not accept your project?

Yes, we are ready for the fact that many clubs will react to our reforms without much joy. After all, objectively, except for the top teams, few people will find these proposals interesting. But let's look at the situation objectively: we all pursue different goals. For some, the main task is to represent the region in the Premier League, for others it is to show good football, develop schools, and represent the country in European arenas. But we are talking about a global reform of all football in Russia, so sooner or later everyone will come to a common understanding.

“After 0-7 at Anfield, there was deathly silence in the dressing room”

You talked about goals and repeatedly noted that Spartak will continue to fight for the championship, but don't you think that the club lost too many points at the start of the season?

We lost a lot, I won't deny it, and in general we started the season very indistinctly. There were reasons for this, both external and internal, subjective and objective. It was a difficult moment, but thanks to the guys who found the strength to get together and complete this year with dignity. We are in the top three, we have an equal number of points with Zenit, so I will regard this intermediate result as positive.

In the fall, a whole information campaign unfolded around Spartak, mostly with a pronounced negative connotation, how did you manage to cope with this?

The thing is that the situation in which we found ourselves is absolutely beneficial to someone. Someone who is outside the club.

Inside, all employees, coaches, players and administration, such stories interfered with productive work. We held several meetings, gathered at the base in Tarasovka, in my office, talked a lot with Massimo Carrera, with the entire coaching staff, and together we developed a mechanism that allowed us to unite.

In addition, we found the strength to return the lost motivation and believe that, despite the gap between competitors, the team is able to fight for the second championship.

- Have you established the cause of the loss of motivation?

This is psychology. As people say, they went through "fire, water and copper pipes" and with them fame, prizes, medals and recognition. Alas, the team was not ready to win time after time. But there are also positive aspects: once in a stressful situation, the guys became stronger. The last rounds of the Premier League are vivid proof of this.

What do you think about the results in the Champions League? It is unlikely that 0:7 in the final match of the group stage was called satisfactory by the club's management?

Today, for our team, this is primarily a tournament that allows you to gain invaluable experience of playing on the international arena and play with eminent rivals. For many guys, such matches happened for the first time in their lives. Having received this invaluable practice, players will continue to progress and grow. I assess the overall performance of the club in the Champions League as positive, besides, even before the start of the season, the task was clearly formulated: to play decently in the Champions League. Worthy - this does not mean reaching the next round or getting into the Europa League. Worthy is to perform at the limit of your capabilities, draw the right conclusions and improve the overall quality of football.

- You were with the team in Liverpool, what was the atmosphere in the dressing room after the defeat?

There was deathly silence. Of course, we were all hurt, it is not so easy to survive such defeats. But, I repeat, for all of us it was first of all an experience, so if we lose 0:1 or 0:7, the result is the same for the tournament layout. In Liverpool, the team went out to play to win, to fight for the right to play in the tournament further, in such a situation, either pan or lost.

Did you worry about the psychological state of the players? Many experts said that, for example, Alexander Selikhov should not bet on the match against CSKA ...

Sasha, although young, is a very promising, high-quality and professional player. Still, they saw the match with CSKA, he, and the whole team, were able to rehabilitate themselves for those seven goals in England.

After the victory over CSKA, Leonid Fedun said that the team would completely make amends only if they beat the leading Lokomotiv with a score of 4:0. Is this a joke or do you really believe that it is still possible to catch up with the “railroad workers”?

Nail Izmailov is the new vice-president of the Moscow football club Spartak. Where did this sports functionary come from, who became right hand in the team of the owner of the “red-white” These questions are being asked today by many fans.

Biography of a functionary

Nail Izmailov was born in 1976. He was born in Moscow.

In the early 90s, he became a student at the Moscow State University of Environmental Engineering. Graduated with a degree in Ecology. Later he became the owner of two more diplomas - at the Higher Commercial School, which was based at the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Federation. He graduated from his last school in 2011.

A lot of conflicting facts are known about the youth of Nail Izmailov. For example, they say that, while studying at the university, he worked as an ordinary bouncer in a bar. Over time, Nail Izmailov himself admitted this to a journalist, noting that the work was not without interest. True, in the future this hobby did not receive any continuation. The hero of our article did not become interested in martial arts.

Professional career



Before coming to Spartak, Nail Izmailov changed more than one occupation. His creative path was very diverse.

Since 2006, by his own admission, he has been overseeing several large investment projects, combining this with work in a company owned by a large financial group.

He also has experience in the real business sector. Izmailov Nail Kamilyevich collaborated with duty-free shops, clothing boutiques, and chain food supermarkets. There is an entry in his work book about work in the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources. Still, he is an ecologist by first education. Izmailov served as a specialist in the Center for Socio-Economic Analysis.

He has a master's degree. He defended it in engineering ecology.

Relations with Spartak



When Nail Izmailov became vice-president at Spartak, it immediately struck everyone that, unlike most other leaders of the Red-Whites, he was not trying to measure popularity with St. Petersburg's Zenit.

He himself looks like a fairly experienced and competent specialist and sports functionary. For example, once in a conversation with a journalist, he talked about the fact that in Russia, according to statistics, there are about 20 million fans. And Spartak's matches have some of the highest ratings in the country. So the team can be safely recognized as one of the official state brands. Because the victory of "Spartacus" ultimately benefited everything Russian football. At least it was economically beneficial for him, because millions of fans all over Russia, who had been rooting for Spartak for many years to no avail, now realized that everything was not in vain.

This success of the “red-whites” in the domestic national football championship has led to the fact that the interest of fans in football has grown even more, there are more fans who are fond of this sport. And all this is especially important on the eve of the upcoming World Cup, which will be held in Russia for the first time.

Responsibilities in "Spartacus"



Spartak vice-president Nail Izmailov in this position oversees an important economic block in the club. He is directly responsible for replenishing the budget, infrastructure facilities, developing a ticket program, and interacting with fans.

Izmailov is in charge of everything related to the income of the football club. These are stores with team symbols and paraphernalia, and trading operations, and sponsorship contracts, and the implementation of rights owned directly by the club, as well as advertising and marketing issues.

Izmailov himself admits that he is facing important task- develop A complex approach so that the club can earn regularly. Only in this case shareholders will be able to compensate for their expenses. In the future, the "red-whites" expect to enter an IPO in the near future and begin to raise real money from the sale of shares. There are also serious plans to expand the infrastructure network. Moreover, in this case we are talking not only about the Russian regions, but also about the far abroad. This, for example, America and China, where they also know and love the Moscow "Spartak".

Most of these plans are now in their infancy. It is interesting which of them will be implemented.