“I can buy old boots with my footballer’s salary.” How do Belarusian players earn extra money? Football. Artem Vasilyev: do Belarusian football players have high salaries? If you compare it with the European level, you get an absolute minuscule “Every day I tinker with electrical

At the turn of February and March 2019, the Russian Football Union and the Belarusian Football Federation almost simultaneously made decisions to make life easier for representatives of the two countries on the territory of the Union State. After the RFU removed Belarusian players from the existing limit on foreign players, the ABFF executive committee introduced a symmetrical rule in its regulations regarding Russians.

The first results of the “mutual offset” were not long in coming. Contrary to the fears of critical patriots, a massive invasion of Russian fields by neighbors did not happen (at least not yet). But in the opposite direction, the migration flow has increased sharply. In one winter 2018/19, clubs in the top division of Belarus hired 24 Russian citizens, and their total number in the league - 32 people - exceeded the Ukrainian contingent (28) for the first time in 12 years. The updated limit has a direct bearing on the change in trend.

Representative of foreign players in the Belarusian Championship in the last 5 years

2015
Ukraine – 30
Serbia – 8
Russia – 6

2016
Ukraine – 33
Russia – 27
Serbia – 8

2017
Ukraine – 38
Russia – 13
Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia - 9 each

2018
Ukraine – 31
Russia – 22
Serbia – 17

2019
Russia – 32
Ukraine – 28
Serbia – 12

According to transfermarkt.

In an attempt to protect the domestic football producer, the ABFF uses methods similar to Russian ones. According to the latest edition of the regulations, top division teams have the right to field no more than five foreigners at a time. The number of foreign players in the application is not limited, but there is a financial nuance. Registration of each legionnaire costs his employer 100 basic units, and from the seventh onwards – 500.

From January 1, 2019, the size of this basic value is set at 25.5 Belarusian rubles (780 Russian rubles). Thus, the standard “foreigner tax” in our money is 78,400 rubles, the increased one is 390,000. Naturally, after the Russians were given equal rights with their local colleagues, scouts and agents became more willing to look towards the neighboring market. The choice of qualified personnel in Russia is objectively wider - due to the size of the country, population and level of football infrastructure.

There is another factor that has increased the attractiveness of the Belarusian league in the eyes of Russian athletes - the total impoverishment of domestic clubs. If in the year of the World Cup in the country two clubs that relatively recently represented Russia in Europe (the kingdom of heaven “Amkar” and “Kuban”) routinely give up the ghost, it is not difficult to guess what is happening in the lower leagues: widespread lack of money and lack of prospects.

While the situation in Russian football was more or less prosperous, even from the FNL it was difficult to tempt a smart player with Belarus. Belarusian football was protected from outright “slag” by the filter of the legionary limit. The less money, the stricter the control over it.

Since then, Belarusian clubs have not become richer; Russian clubs (for the most part) have become poorer. Which led to the appearance of crowds of free agents on the market and a global reassessment of values ​​on the part of our ball masters. Against the backdrop of cataclysms in the FNL and PFL, the attractiveness of the Belarusian major league in the eyes of many has sharply increased.

In the Belarusian championship they pay a little (relative to Russia’s “fat” zeros), but, as a rule, it’s fair. No wonder Belarus Alexandra Lukashenko is considered a model of stability and order (we will omit the negative connotations of these concepts in this case). 3000 USD by the standards of the main republican league - a good salary, 4000 - very good. And, for example, in “Mozyr-BGU” or Minsk “Energetik”, which have just risen to the major leagues, the players are happy with the “one and a half”.

In the leading teams - BATE, Shakhtar Soligorsk, Dynamo Minsk and Brest - the conditions for players and coaches are more interesting, but still not comparable with the offers of the RPL “tops”. Even taking into account unofficial allowances, which in Belarus they prefer to talk about in a low voice, or better yet, keep quiet. Nevertheless, the “middle class” of Russian football society is increasingly exploring the fields of a friendly country.

Champion of Russia 2016 Roman Pilipchuk pulled up to Dynamo Minsk Dyakova, Tigieva And Chochieva– familiar names, aren’t they? The national champion, BATE, hired a Zenit graduate Khojaniyazova and undertook to revive the career of the younger Natkho– Amir (the same one who grew up in the Barcelona youth team). “Vitebsk” and “Isloch” each added three Russian – now non-legionnaires – to their application, “Gomel” - four.

It sounds funny, but now worried voices are heard in Belarus: “Won’t our fields be filled with low-skilled foreigners, even though they are close mentally and geographically?” So the big question is who will benefit from this interstate reform and who, on the contrary, will lose. In sporting terms - if, of course, this factor was taken into account at all.

In its updated list of the highest salaries of Belarusian football players, it states that the salary of two players of FC Slutsk from the 2014 season was about $ 3,500. However, according to Kur'er's own insider information, we can talk about a more modest amount for these players, included in the list - $ 1000-$ 1500 equivalent.

Moreover, Loshankov and Saito mentioned in the list were not the highest paid players in the club.

According to the website, BATE players have the highest income. Thus, Vitaly Rodionov, Egor Filippenko, Sergei Krivets earned approximately 16 thousand “conditional” per month last season. Leading players of Dynamo Minsk - 15-14 thousand dollars each. Shakhtar's leading players - 6 thousand "conditional" each.

“This rating reflects the monthly salary of players in dollars last season according to the exchange rate at the beginning of 2014 (1 USD - 10,000 Belarusian rubles). Salaries are linked to foreign currency only in BATE and Dynamo Minsk. Therefore, the earnings of football players from the other ten clubs were significantly devalued by the end of the year. Especially considering that the vast majority of clubs have not yet paid their players. For example, a salary of 40 million at the beginning of the year is 4 thousand dollars, now it’s a little more than 2.5. /…/ This rating did not take into account bonuses paid to football players for victories in the national championship. On average, each player received a thousand dollars for winning a major league game. Leading clubs have a more flexible bonus system. For example, in BATE, players received bonuses from 15 to 30 thousand USD for reaching the group stage of the Champions League. For leaders, it reached half of their annual salary,” the publication states.

But no matter what amounts we are talking about, this off-season it is not only the size of salaries that is valued among players, but rather the stability of these same payments, one interlocutor told Kurer. Therefore, some football players would rather give preference to stability than to a slightly higher salary.

And FC Slutsk has a good reputation among Belarusian football clubs in terms of stability. This was both in the lower leagues and in the major ones.

Newsroom

Football journalist and insider Ivan Karpov, who previously worked for the Championship and Match TV, published the salaries of all RPL coaches in his Telegram channel. The leader surprises, but who returns their salary much better?

Let's start from the end. At Anzhi, people have heard very little about the concept of “salary”, but Magomed Adiev stated that a lawsuit with his native club was out of the question. Formally, in the “Insights from Karp” rating, Adiev receives 120 thousand euros, but in reality, it is unlikely that any significant amounts have reached the coach.

It’s quite unexpected to see the coach of a Moscow club in the relegation zone: Dmitry Khokhlov receives only 180 thousand, although with the arrival of VTB in the club the situation may change. Vadim Evseev, who transferred from SKA-Khabarovsk to Ufa, agreed to a salary of 240 thousand euros, and so far he is working off it in full.

The next price category - from 300 thousand and above - is opening Valery Karpin And Igor Cherevchenko. There are no questions about the prescribed salaries for the club leaders: both can lead provincial teams to European competition, Cherevchenko generally works some miracles with Arsenal. With such results, you can aspire to more.

Slightly higher in the rankings and slightly lower in the championship table Vladimir Fedotov And Dmitry Parfenov. 320 thousand – in principle, is also adequate to the achievements. But Parfenov still has good chances to win the cup; Ural won the first match against Arsenal 1:0.

The most embarrassing coach of the season Dmitry Alenichev managed to achieve a salary of 400 thousand euros: the leaders of Arsenal or Orenburg will, on occasion, explain to the Krasnoyarsk bosses that they were scammed.

Youngest coach Murad Musaev receives half a million euros - less than anyone from the top 5, which is logical. To improve his well-being, it would be nice for Musaev to improve the club’s finances by leading it to the Champions League.

Rashid Rakhimov agreed to return to Akhmat on good terms - his salary, according to Karpov, is 600 thousand euros. Above the league average, but Akhmat cannot climb above the average yet. It's been 10 years since he can't.

The pre-top category is headed by Miodrag Bozovic: the coach of the Samara “Wings” in salary is second only to the leading five, and on the field he loses to a much larger number of coaches. A coach with a salary of 700 thousand euros earned money only for play-off matches.

Oleg Kononov changed at Spartak: from a gentle intellectual he turned into a harsh gentleman. Maybe the increase in salary also had an effect: it is unlikely that at Arsenal he received something like 1.4 million euros.

Ahead with one and a half million Victor Goncharenko, which, according to Karpov, started with a modest 360 thousand. The coach was able to prove his worth to Giner, but Yevgeny Lennorovich’s financial worth will not improve from the missed Champions League.

Well, for the one celebrating his birthday today Yuri Semin It remains to win two championship matches to recoup their two million euros in the championship prize money. He defeated Herkus in the hardware war and, as in the salary ranking, is inferior to only one opponent in the championship.

In addition to subjective feelings, it would be nice to tie the rating to numbers. It is incorrect to directly link it with the table: coaches played different numbers of matches, came at different periods for teams, so it would be more correct to calculate the average number of points per match, sort coaches by this indicator and calculate the difference in positions in the salary ranking and in the table of average points. Since the 28th round is still in full swing, its results are not taken into account.

But, of course, no numbers can be taken without context. Cherevchenko and Evseev are certainly performing well, but they have an advantage due to the small number of matches, as does Kononov in average points. But obvious results can still be seen: Alenichev, Bozhovich and Berdyev do not earn their salaries, unlike Cherevchenko and Semak. Although it would be more informative and useful to simply look at the average number of points and subjectively compare it with salary.

The 28th Belarusian Football Championship in the Major League starts today

Photo: Svyatoslav ZORKY

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The current champion BATE takes the start with a new coach Oleg Dulub.

The composition has also changed. The new coach at Dynamo Brest (Czech Radoslav Latal), which at the start of the season already beat the Borisov team in the Super Cup match. Dynamo Minsk retained the core of the team, led by “field commander” Sergei Gurenko. Polish coach Marek Zub remained at Shakhtar and called on several more exotic foreign players to help. This quartet will most likely fight for a place on the podium.

We talked more about the intrigues of the championship with football agent Valery Isaev.

“IF THE “KRUMKACHY” WANTED TO MAKE A REVOLUTION, THEN THE GUYS NEEDED TO REMEMBER THE STORIES OF “DARIDA”, “SAVITA” AND MTZ-RIPO”

- Top off-season events in your opinion.

Without irony, before any championship you pay attention to the appearance of new teams, players, and coaches in the league. Now, first of all, you notice that there are new coaches at BATE and Dynamo Brest. There are reasons to expect changes in the play of these teams.

There were also “funny” stories. According to the regulations, one club was “retired from the run”, it left the major league, and was replaced by another. The championship hasn’t started, but it’s already “fun.”

- In the story of the non-admission of “Krumkacho”, whose position are you in?

I've been in the regulation position since day one. From the first day “Krumkachy” appeared in the major league. I am for the regulations to be implemented at least 70 percent.

- “Krumkachi” themselves are to blame for delaying the submission of documents for licensing, but they complained that they previously made concessions to problematic clubs.

The problem isn't just what happened at the end. You mentioned concessions, but they are different. There is a lot of interesting and romantic things in the history of “Krumkacho”, there were many good decisions and creative personalities, but this has nothing to do with professional football. Professional football means infrastructure, children's schools and many other important attributes. But “Krumkachov” had none of this. ABFF initially thought differently and, unfortunately, behaved incorrectly, not in accordance with the regulations, turned a blind eye to something - so we got this situation. Unfortunately, this continues today; some teams have entered the major league that do not correspond to the level of the country’s professional league.

But it turns out that previously “Naftan” and “Belshina” did not pass licensing the first time, but now a special adherence to principles suddenly appeared.

Let's figure out what rules of the game we have adopted. Our country has a state economy and it prevails in everything, including football. If “Krumkachy” wanted to enter the major league as the only absolutely private club and make a revolution, then the guys needed to remember the stories of “Darida”, “Savita” and MTZ-RIPO, despite the fact that the owners of these clubs were doing well with money . What is Belshina or Naftan? These are clubs backed by the country's largest enterprises. Sooner or later, these enterprises pay off their debts. We have such a system. Whether this is good or bad is a question, but these are the realities and rules of the game now. “Krumkachoi” does not have what “Belshina” or “Naftan” have, and over the two years of this team’s existence in the major league, the changes have only been for the worse. In relation to the development of professional football, the federation is making a mistake by allowing such teams into the major league. I would propose adding a clause to the regulations: if a club that has taken a place in the first league, allowing participation in the major league, does not submit documents for licensing or, having submitted documents, does not go through this procedure, then this club is liquidated without the right to participate in competitions under the auspices of the ABFF . And believe me, all the pampering would have stopped immediately, especially at the stage of forming the team composition.

- Returning to the start of the championship, what did you note for yourself when looking at the recruitment of clubs?

There was nothing supernatural; the clubs proceeded from the financial capabilities and vision of the coach. Except that unexpectedly “Vitebsk” increased the representation of the Brazilian diaspora; there were even more Serbs in BATE. I'm looking forward to the championship, judging by the composition and results of friendly and cup matches, perhaps this year there will be a very intense and equal fight for first place.

- How have the financial capabilities of clubs changed? What level are they at now?

In Grodno, the mayor Mieczyslaw Goi actively supports Neman, plus he heads the local football federation. Considering the specifics of our country, this is very important and good for the team. This means that there will be a little more funding, the goal is to get into European competitions. This is interesting. Offhand, with the exception of one or two teams, there are no people in the league who have problems with financing.

“CHILDREN'S SCHOOLS SHOULD NOT PAY FOR FIELDS RENT”

Ledesma remained in Vitebsk, two more Brazilians Furlan and Vanderson appeared, and the Serbian Adamovich, known for his games for Dynamo, was signed. So has the budget increased?

It is difficult to talk about the budget in detail. But since such players appear, then, apparently, there are prerequisites for this, this cannot but rejoice. It is important that head coach Sergei Yasinsky has already shown that he knows how to work with players of different levels and find use for them. I would like Vitebsk to get closer to the top three. Everything that has been happening at the club over the last couple of years is pleasing, it is connected with the development of infrastructure, stability with financing. The only thing is that I would like everything that is being done in the country today to develop the number game to be more accessible for children’s, mass and amateur football. Children's schools do not have to pay to rent fields. Everyone should use the new platforms for free, then the return will be elsewhere.

“UNTIL WE HAVE SEEN HOW DULUB HAS VIEWS ON SELECTION”

- How did the Borisov team present themselves in the cup matches and what can we expect from them next?

Honestly, I worry about the team as a fan. We all expect success from BATE in European competitions, and it is interesting to follow him in the championship. I perceived the changes in the coaching staff with interest, rather positively.

- Why?

I liked how Krumkachy played under the leadership of Oleg Dulub (unfortunately, I did not see how his teams played in Ukraine). It seems to me that this coach is capable of creating the same attacking game in another team. The head of the club probably thought about this too. In recent years, Borisov has performed in different ways. Even in the championship there were periods when the game was not expressive. And I want a more successful performance in European competitions. Based on the first matches in the Super Cup and the Belarusian Cup, we did not see any changes in BATE's play. Until we saw Dulub’s views on selection, BATE was recruited as before; problematic positions were filled by legionnaires from Serbia, this time they were mainly defensive players. But not all at once, you have to wait.

BATE fans constantly complain that they need a striker. Rodionov retired, but only Skavysh came, besides him, Signevich and Finn Tuominen remain among the pure forwards. Is the available resource enough to attack?

Signevich either plays in the starting lineup or remains in the reserves. This is partly due to injuries. For our championship he is a very good player, if Nikolai adds stability, then his best matches for BATE and the national team are still ahead. Skavysh once left BATE, and when that happened, I had regrets. Let's see how he shows himself now.

It is clear that any coach wants significant reinforcement. But, probably, the proposals for strikers that BATE had did not turn out to be stronger than the existing players. To find someone stronger, a serious increase in the budget is necessary, then it will be possible to sign ready-made football players who can immediately help in solving problems at the level of qualifying for the Champions League group. But such a football player costs a lot of money.

- Two million dollars?

Not less. Although BATE has already shown how you can recruit for less money and make noise in European competitions.

After Gleb signed for BATE, your phrase was quoted: “What a disappointment in Dulub... Such an inglorious end to the fairy tale of “Krumkacho” and their heroes.” Not everyone understood the meaning...

The meaning is a little veiled. Many young football players played for Dulub at Krumkachi, he worked individually and revealed their strengths. That is, he showed that different players can play for him, and he brings out their best qualities. Based on the selection of the team under Dulub in BATE, we see that the coach is still relying on experienced players. It is not easy to find a balance between experienced players and youth; the successful coach is the one who solves this problem. If now he sees Gleb on the team, it means he knows why. Let's see what happens. So far everything has worked out for him. If they are wrong, I will apologize for this phrase. I spoke for only one reason: I worry about this team and want changes to occur in their game.

“GAME SCHEME FOR ONE FOOTBALL PLAYER IS A RISKY STEP”

- Gleb came to BATE at the end of the off-season. It turns out that it will be necessary to change the scheme for it.

We don’t know anything yet about Dulub’s schemes in BATE. In any team, playing with one player is a risky and probably unjustified step, especially since Borisov has always been strong due to the level of team play and discipline. I am for treating football and fans with respect...

Gleb asked to join BATE last fall to play against Arsenal and finish his career gracefully, but he was turned down. And now they signed him, although he has been without playing practice for 10 months. It turns out a little strange. How do you explain this?

Let Dulub's head hurt about this. Although it already hurts him. There is also such a thing as team microclimate. From my point of view, this is at least 70 percent of success.

You said this about Dynamo Minsk: “We went through the preseason smoothly - it’s a good sign when the coach and the core of the team remain.” Soon the general director Alim Selimov left the club. Could this mess up your settings?

It’s good that Sergei Gurenko remained in the team, 80 percent of the main team was retained. It’s difficult to talk about the director’s departure; we don’t know the reasons, whether there were any contradictions, how he influenced the selection and microclimate of the team. I don’t think this will affect the team’s performance. Judging by Gurenko’s interview, as far as the team is concerned, everything is in his hands. But, in my opinion, Alim Selimov was a general director with an inner core, perhaps the only one of his kind in recent times. Being the director of a football club in our country is very difficult, but the position of director of Dynamo Minsk is an increased area of ​​responsibility with all that it entails. I think we can expect confident play from Dynamo: there are good players, leaders, a diverse attacking group, everything is smooth outside the football field. We should expect competition between Dynamo and BATE.

“FILIPP IVANOV SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE IN THE TEAM”

Dynamo signed mainly free agents, those who had previously been in the club. Of the legionnaires, only Stoyanov and Yahaya came. Has Dynamo become stronger?

I think yes. In all championships, it happens that a player leaves and then returns. This is fine.

The same Nightingale became more experienced, more skilled, and showed himself well in Vitebsk. Philip Ivanov, I think, is a strengthening. He showed himself excellently at Krumkachy, but before that no one could find an approach to him, the comments were the same: he doesn’t work in defense. Ivanov showed that with proper contact with the coach, he is a decent player for our championship. Recently there were national team matches, the guys played well, but they lacked creativity, two or three people who could beat one on one. Maybe Philip will attract attention by playing for Dynamo. Although, based on his performance in Krumkachi, one could have long ago tried to see how he would show himself in the national team.

- A year ago, Shakhtar, taking into account the signing of foreign players, was called almost the main competitor of BATE. But under Marek Zub, the team slipped from first place to third. Should we expect the Pitmen to fight for the championship?

Why not? The finish of last season was missed. The reasons for this were stated by Marek Zub himself: the team missed out on the championship due to a lack of winning spirit. Probably, Shakhtar’s leaders invited Zub to instill confidence. But the spirit of a winner is not formed immediately. Zub worked successfully in Lithuania, apparently, there was an expectation that at a certain stage he would help in Soligorsk. Last year it didn't work out.

- So far it’s not working either. Departure from the ¼ finals of the Belarus Cup from Dnepr.

If everything were so simple... So we talked to you, sorted out all the teams, said who would win against whom, put everyone in their places... If everything was like this, then football would not be interesting.

“THE FIRST CRITERION WHEN HIRING ANY MANAGER FOR A CLUB SHOULD BE KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH”

Shakhtar has an international team: players from Croatia, Slovakia, Liberia, Rwanda, Colombia, Albania. Is it a plus that there are different styles, or is it difficult to manage such a diverse company?

The player’s nationality and the number of different nationalities on the team have no effect. This affects when the club does not create an environment for everyday life and the training process. In Borisov, such conditions have been created; a player from any country can adapt and play; in Minsk, Brest, too. And in general, everything is becoming more or less prosperous in Belarus.

But there is still a lot to work on and work on. Taking into account the small (compared to top league teams) budgets of our clubs, we need to pay more attention to viewing players; this does not require super conditions. You need desire, living conditions, agility in logistics and, of course, the professionalism of the coach and all club managers. I believe that the first criterion when hiring any manager for a club (lawyer, doctor, administrator, etc.) should be knowledge of English, because football is now international. This is not so difficult, considering how many specialists with knowledge of the language our universities prepare. But we have different criteria: close friends of the director, a former law enforcement officer... Where common sense criteria are applied, those teams are more successful.

So I don’t see any problems with Shakhtar’s internationalism. Football players from different countries play in top championships. A good foreign player is a plus in the game and an opportunity to replenish the club’s budget. This means we need to look more, this is our big problem.

The transfer of the Colombian Cañas to Shakhtar is called the most high-profile signing; he once played effectively for Astana; clubs from Spain and Italy were interested in him. How would you rate it? Someone is wondering: did he have no other options or did Shakhtar pay so much?

I don't think they paid much. We do not know under what conditions he transferred. He was worth a lot of money about four years ago, when he played in Astana, there was a steady interest in him from RFPL clubs, I know that for sure.

He is a very good player, especially for our championship. But not only in our championship, football players lose shape quickly, but take a long time to get back into shape. The championship will show what condition he is in now, what his level of motivation is. When signing, Shakhtar should have taken these issues into account.

The Latin American newspaper Futbol Al Minuto Sports quickly stated that Cañas will now earn 830 thousand dollars a year, and the player’s compensation amount will be 6 million euros. Does this seem true?

Looks like a fake. Can you imagine such a salary in Belarus? Everyone today knows approximate salaries and what they can throw at them. Only BATE could afford this a few years ago, for example, when they signed Gleb and Kezman for the Champions League. But BATE is less dependent on the state budget, having the money it earned in European competitions. And considering Cañas’ previous club (“Ordybasy” in Kazakhstan - Ed.) and how he played there, he does not deserve such a salary.

- What are the approximate salaries of foreign players and leading Belarusian football players now?

There are different legionnaires: in “Luch”, “Dnepr”, and in “Dynamo” Brest, BATE. In “Luch” and “Smolevichi” salaries can be 500-700 dollars. Leaders can afford amounts of 15 thousand dollars a month. And then this is the possible maximum for units.

“MILEVSKY BRINGS CONFIDENCE AND CLASS TO THE TEAM”

For the second year now, Dynamo Brest can afford to live in grand style. Last year we won the Cup, but were fourth in the championship. How would you assess their readiness and ambitions now?

I liked the game with BATE for the Super Cup.

Last year BATE played with reserves. Now Brest boldly went on the attack, there are strong players there, and Milevsky gives the team confidence and class. And Dynamo’s reserve and youth are good. I think this year Brest can aim for more. The question is how coach Radolav Latal will put all this together.

- To summarize, who are the main favorites, where are the main intrigues?

I would like there to be a fight for first place. There will be intrigue. BATE, Dynamo Minsk and Brest, and Shakhtar will compete for the championship. And two more teams that can wedge themselves into the fight: “Torpedo-BelAZ” and “Vitebsk”. Torpedo players do not have big names, but they have a competent coach Oleg Kubarev, he selected performers to suit his vision of the game. Maybe Neman will take off, where they have an ambitious coach, Igor Kovalevich, whom the players love.

STAY IN TOUCH!

In the first round they will play:

"Luch" - "Minsk" (17.30)

“Neman” - “Vitebsk” (19.30)

“Gomel” - “Slutsk” (15.00)

Shakhtar - Dynamo Brest (17.00)

“Dynamo-Minsk” - “Torpedo-BelAZ” (19.00)

“Isloch” - “Torpedo-Minsk” (14.00)

“Gorodeya” - “Dnepr” (16.00)

BATE - Smolevichi (18.00)

“Money rules the world, and the one who has more of it is stronger!” This phrase is most relevant today when it comes to football, in which the budget race has inflated to truly phantasmagoric proportions and sometimes looks almost blasphemous. Clubs and corporations are pouring as much money into transfers and player salaries as was previously unlikely to be provided even for development programs for “Star Wars” and other space developments.

Big jackpot

Messi is trying with all his might to find a worthy response to such a trick by his eternal rival and is desperately bargaining with Barcelona for a new agreement and a significant improvement in the terms of his contract. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner wants an annual salary of 50 million euros before tax. The player's current agreement, with a salary of 20 million including tax, expires in 2018. So we can safely assume that next year we will see a new astronomical salary cap.

Shanghai paid 32-year-old Argentinean Carlos TEVES an annual salary of 40 million euros.

Who else have you forgotten? Of course, the Brazilian Neymar from Barcelona! He also re-signed his contract this year and will receive 15 million euros per year plus 10 million in bonuses, which will be paid to him regardless of the statistical indicators of the player and the club.

With all this, neither Ronaldo, nor Messi, nor Bale, nor Neymar are currently the highest paid football players in the world. Yesterday, Argentine Boca Juniors forward Carlos Tevez surpassed everyone by moving to Chinese Shanghai Shenhua. By the way, the colors of this team were defended by Vyacheslav Gleb in 2009.

Appetite comes while playing

The appetites of Chinese clubs are growing by leaps and bounds. Players with more or less well-known names in the Chinese Super League began to actively buy wholesale and retail not so long ago - a year ago. It all started with the provision of tax breaks for companies investing in sports. Then there was a powerful television contract worth $1.2 billion over five years, and, as they say, away we go - the level of the Chinese championship began to grow rapidly. Attendance in the Chinese Super League has grown significantly in recent years, with leading clubs easily attracting 50 thousand people to the stands.

At Juventus, Roberto Baggio's salary was $250 thousand per month.

Truly first-magnitude stars are not coming to China yet. But this is only for now - the dam will break soon, you can be sure of that. Where, for example, is there a guarantee that Messi will not be flattered by the offer of some club from Guangzhou or Shanghai if they offer him 60 million? Fantastic, you say? Nothing happened! A year ago they wanted to make Zlatan Ibrahimovic the face of the Chinese Super League, offering him a simply cosmic 75 million euros a year! But here you need to know Ibra’s arrogance and character - he demanded 100! They didn’t shake hands, but Tevez, having moved to China, has now forced all the other big fish to bite their elbows and ask the question: why are we worse?

Meanwhile, in China there are already many really serious characters in the modern football show industry playing and training. From the representatives of the local championship you can easily assemble a Brazilian national team: Oscar, Hulk, Kleber, Renato Augusto, Paulinho, Jo, Teixeira, Ramirez... The clubs' mentors are also not easy: Luiz Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas, Dragan Stojkovic, Manuel Pellegrini, Gustavo Poyet, Felix Magath... So, as you can see, everything is serious and on a grand scale in the Chinese Super League. And in five years, it’s quite possible that absolutely all the main stars of world football will play here.

Shoot the ball without leaving the cash register

George BEST was the football icon of all of Albio on and one of the first commercially successful football players

In 1980, the most paid in the world was the Brazilian Falcao, who moved to Roma and was valued at 50 thousand dollars a month. But this was relatively recently! Roberto Baggio significantly raised the salary bar in 1990: at Juventus his salary was $250 thousand a month, and it was an extraordinary luxury! Then there were Tevez, Rooney, and gradually football taxied to its modern shores, strewn with banknotes, like a pebble beach. Everyone understands that the incomes of football players today are frankly inflated, but they can’t do anything about it. Or they don't want to.

In Belarusian clubs, players’ salary sheets are a closely guarded secret; these figures are not publicly available. A year ago, the portal tribuna.com published unofficial data on the highest paid players of Belarusian clubs. The leader on that list was Alexander Gleb from BATE with a salary of 20 thousand dollars a month. Previously, as a Barcelona player, Sasha probably could have spent this amount in a cafe on tips, but it’s not for nothing that they say that everything is learned by comparison. Now our teams have completely tightened their belts: not everyone can afford to pay players 5-7 thousand dollars a month. However, like football, so do salaries...

By the way

The Minister of Sports of the Samara Region, Dmitry Shlyakhtin, told how much the players of the Krylya Sovetov football club, as well as their head coach Belarusian Vadim Skripchenko, receive:

- The maximum salary of a player in Krylia Sovetov - we have one such most expensive player, this is Mollo - his salary is 65 thousand euros per month. The lowest paid player is 100 thousand rubles. Coach Skripchenko currently receives 1.8 million rubles (about 30 thousand dollars).

Earlier, sports agent Vladimir Abramov announced the salary of another Belarusian coach, Viktor Goncharenko, who recently headed CSKA Moscow. According to Abramov, Goncharenko’s contract at the army club is 350 thousand euros per year, which is five times less than Leonid Slutsky earned.

Let us note that the salary of the dismissed head coach of the Belarusian national team, Alexander Khatskevich, according to unofficial information, was 240 thousand dollars a year.