Our goal is to achieve parity with the top European football nations in terms of participation in football. With this goal in mind, the amateur and professional football infrastructure is rapidly being developed throughout Russia. In the past five years alone, the amount of people in Russia involved in football has grown by 50%.
Since 2005, the Football Union of Russia, in collaboration with the government, has been implementing “Stadia for Kids”, a national investment project focused on improving the administration, coaching and infrastructure for grassroots and youth amateur football. The project has significantly improved football infrastructure since its inception. As a comparison, Russia had just 80 standard football pitches with artificial turf in 2004. Today, in 2009, there are more than 400 football pitches with artificial turf, all of them meeting the highest standards of sports facility construction.
The approval of the federal programme for football development on the governmental level has had a huge impact upon football development throughout the country. The programme authorizes more than US$340 million from the federal budget to be allocated for football development through 2015. This programme is an integral part of the comprehensive state programme for the development of physical education and sport nationwide. The funding for this programme, totaling US$4.8 billion, is targeted for the construction of an additional 500 artificial turf football pitches for football academies nationwide, seven football indoor halls, and an educational and training center for youth and women’s national football teams of Russia.
Currently, there are over 2,500 youth football academies and football sections nationwide, with some 450,000 kids from 8 to 17 years of age enrolled. In urban and rural areas throughout Russia, there are about 12,000 football pitches and 1,732 stadia with a capacity of less than 500 spectators. Organized football under the governance of the Football Union of Russia is growing on an annual basis, with a total current participation of 835,000 participants, 4,200 of them at the professional level.
As part of Russia’s growth strategy for football, two projects are currently being implemented: “Football Centers” and “Football of the Future”.
One of the strategic imperatives is the positioning of football as a catalyst for social change. Through this project, the Football Union of Russia supports persons with a disability, at-risk youth, and veterans of Russian football. It establishes social support systems for active and retired football players, motivational and mentoring programs for youth, and developmental programs for coaches. The annual budget for this project exceeds US$2 million.
The achievements of Russian football have been significant in recent years. The quality of Russian football has risen, with high performance on the part of Russian national and club teams over the last three years. Currently Russia is ranked 6th among FIFA national teams and is ranking 6th in UEFA’s club ranking list.