Limit on the legionaries: is it worth it?

Limit on the legionaries - one of the most sick topics for fans of Russian football. In the whole country there will not be a single fan who, in one way or another, would not have expressed his opinion on this issue. Well, let's talk a little bit about this.

The first limit

The first limit on legionnaires in Russia was introduced after the championship of the Russian Empire in 1912. In that far championship, the national team of St. Petersburg won, which consisted of more than half of the English. After the innovations, more than three foreigners were allowed to enter the field, which was then seen as logical.

The Times of the USSR

For objective reasons, during the USSR, there was no talk of a limit in principle. The first foreigner in the championship appeared only in 1989 - the Bulgarian Shadow Minchev, whom the "Wings of the Soviets" exchanged for, attention, two volleyball players. Since that time, the number of legionaries in Russia has gradually increased. Nonsense was the appearance in the Moscow "Locomotive" of an American in 1990, Dale Mulholland. Play for the Soviet club was his dream, for which he had to fight.

Return of the limit

After the collapse of the USSR, there were more foreigners in the Russian championship. The problem was that not all of them were able to play football qualitatively. The limit of legionaries already then became on the agenda. However, not all were interested in his return, because foreign players were cheaper than homegrown, besides it is a kind of exotica that attracts spectators to the stands. But in 1999, the RFU was forced to introduce a limit on foreign players, although so far only in the lower leagues.

In the supreme championship of the country the limit has got over in 2005. On the field could not get more than five foreigners, but with one reservation. Footballer, who played for his national team a certain number of matches (10 or more), the legionnaire was not considered. Already next year, this amendment was canceled, but increased the number of foreign players simultaneously on the field to 7.

Limit today

At the moment, the limit on foreign players in Russia allows you to stay on the field no more than 6 foreigners. Also a legionnaire is one who has Russian citizenship, but has no right to play for the national team of the country. A striking example of this - Peter Odemwinge, a native of Tashkent, a former player of the Moscow "Locomotive", who later moved to English "West Bromwich Albion". Peter was played for the national team of Nigeria and had no right to speak for Russia.

The tightening of the limit was dictated by the need to grow more quality local players. The Russian national team positions itself as a high-class team, which wants to constantly participate in world and European championships. At the same time, she clearly lacks stability. So, 2008 was almost the most joyful and positive for Russian football fans, and 2010 was a nightmare. Then the team lost in the play-offs to Slovenes and did not go to the World Cup in South Africa.

Opinion of management and fans

Now the head of the RFU and concurrently the Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko says that the limit in Russian football is vital. In his opinion, this tool will help us grow more high-class players. If this is not done, the Minister of Sport promised to solve the problems of the national team through the naturalization of foreign players.

Not everyone agrees with this position. Many believe that in our championship there should not be such a thing as a limit on foreign players. When they introduced it, the Russian championship lost much in entertainment, but it's still half the trouble.

The main problem is that Russian players have no competition. Clubs are forced to keep players, pay them a high salary, regularly release on the field only because they have a Russian passport. This whole situation is reminiscent of the economic development of the USSR, when the country went along an extensive route, which meant an increase in the number of enterprises, farms, etc., but the quality of production remained unchanged.

Limit in Europe

If we talk about the limit on foreign players in European championships - there it is practically absent. In most countries, the limit is only nominal, does not affect the real state of affairs. It is believed that the English Premier League is most mired in legionaries, but this does not prevent the country from having a world-class team that always claims to be rewards.

Is there an alternative?

The current tightening of the limit on foreign players in Russia is positioned as the preparation of the national team for the home world championship in 2018. As a comparison, you can prepare for the 2006 German national team.

In 2000, at the European Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands, "bundestim" could not overcome even the group stage. All Germany said that this is a real shame for German football. When the Germans got the right to host the World Cup 2006, they were given special subsidies for preparing for the World Cup. With this money, a huge number of sports football schools were opened across the country for children aged 13-17. Also clubs of the first and second divisions were obliged to open special centers for the training of young players.

This has borne fruit. In 2006, the "Bundesmannschaft" in the match for 3rd place beat the Portuguese. After 8 years in Brazil, the Germans became world champions. And this despite the fact that the formal limit on German legionnaires operated for a very short time, and in the end was completely canceled as unnecessary.

However that may be, the limit on the legionnaires in Russia is in force and can not be lifted while nobody is going to. We need to accept this. But at the same time, we must be extremely clear that without the development of children's and youth sports, no tightening of the limit is able to save Russian football.