http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/european- championships-2012/8740731/Russia-v-Republic-of-Ireland-vast-riches- propelling-the-unstoppable-rise-of-the-Russian-Premier-League.html Russia v Republic of Ireland: vast riches propelling the unstoppable rise of the Russian Premier League ------ Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow's attempts to calm troubled regions and stem the bloody violence in the Caucasus are now being played out on the football pitch and through the images of Samuel Eto'o, Roberto Carlos and the next tranche of iconic players to be tempted by the millions on offer in the Russian Premier League. By Mark Ogden, Moscow, 11:00PM BST 04 Sep 2011 ------ Regardless of whether Russia's national team takes control of its Euro 2012 qualifying ambitions by defeating the Republic of Ireland at the Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday, football in Russia has become more than just a game. It has become a political football in the truest sense. Winning the race to host the 2018 World Cup was a victory on the global stage for prime minister Vladimir Putin, but the power of football is now being harnessed, from Siberia to Chechnya, Tatarstan to Dagestan, with oligarchs, state governments and powerful companies all 'encouraged' to channel their wealth into clubs across the country. Eto'o's remarkable transfer from Inter Milan to Anzhi Makhachkala last month — a move that makes the Cameroon forward the world's best-paid footballer with a salary of ￡350,000 a week — has lifted the lid on the power-play now being directed by the federal government. The recent emergence of Anzhi (Dagestan), Terek Grozny (Chechnya) and Rubin Kazan (Tatarstan) has been fuelled by vast investment from regional governments, with Anzhi also benefiting from the ￡5.5 billion fortune of owner Suleiman Kerimov, who is bank-rolling the salaries of Eto'o, Carlos and the former Chelsea defender Yuri Zhirkov. Kazan's title successes in 2008 and 2009 were funded by the state government in order to claim regional pride through the achievements of a previously unheralded football team. The perception within the Kremlin that natives will be less restless if their regional identity can be attached to a successful football team has yet to prove wholly successful, however. Such is the delicate situation in Chechnya and Dagestan, where separatist movements remain linked to terrorism, both Terek and Anzhi base their squads away from their volatile home cities. Terek's players live and train 150 miles away, while Eto'o and his Anzhi team-mates are based in Moscow, only taking the 900-mile flight to Makhachkala for home fixtures. Ireland midfielder Aiden McGeady, who has spent the past year with Russia's biggest club, Spartak Moscow, admits that trips to the Caucasus are rarely trouble-free for clubs from the capital. “During a game against Anzhi, we had a corner and I was making my way up that side of the pitch and there was a big riot,” McGeady said. “I saw the Anzhi fans running up to the Spartak fans, tearing out seats and throwing them at the our supporters. “It's a different world out there, but my team-mates were telling me that it's normal for teams in that region.” Crowd violence and racism remain a stain on the Russian game, one which the authorities are determined to eradicate as the country prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi. By the time the World Cup arrives in 2018, racism is expected to be a distant memory. Last year, Lokomotiv Moscow fans unfurled a banner showing a banana directed at Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie, now with West Bromwich, while in March, Zenit St Petersburg were fined ￡6,000 after one of their fans offered a banana to Carlos at a pre-match ceremony. Brazilian defender Carlos threatened to leave Russia earlier this summer when he walked off the pitch in protest after a banana was thrown from the crowd during a game against Krylya Sovetov. Carlos earns ￡4.2 million a year at Anzhi, with Zhirkov benefiting from similar generosity from owner Kerimov. The big wages are not restricted to newly-rich clubs from the regions, however. Zenit, funded by Russia's biggest company, Gazprom, are believed to have hired former Roma coach Luciano Spalletti on a ￡4 million a year contract, while their star player Aleksandr Kerzhakov earns in excess of ￡100,000 a week. Joey Barton was offered a ￡100,000-a-week deal by Zenit, a figure made more attractive by the 13 per cent tax rate applied to footballers in Russia, before instead leaving Newcastle for Queens Park Rangers. McGeady left Celtic for a ￡50,000 a-week package at Spartak. CSKA Moscow, a club with close connections to Roman Abramovich, also afford generous salaries for goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda. But while 60,000 attended Moscow's 'classic' derby between Spartak and CSKA last week, top-flight fixtures are rarely sold-out, with the exception of Zenit home games. Siberian clubs Amkar Perm and Tom Tomsk both face severe financial difficulties, while Moscow has endured a five-year wait for the league title to return from the provinces. Viewing figures for ESPN's weekly broadcast of live action from the RPL are growing, however, and the presence of Eto'o and others is only likely to see the profile of Russian football grow. Whether the game will achieve what the politicians have failed to pull off by ensuring peace and prosperity beyond Moscow is another matter, though. -- http://fanchants.com/football-songs/chelsea-chants/we-all-follow-the-chelsea/ We All Follow The Chelsea, Over land and sea (and Leicester) We All Follow The Chelsea, Onnnntooo vi-ic-toreee... --

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