President CSKA Andrey Vatutin told of the consequences of the club’s budget cut.
In March, the Euroleague announced that CSKA, Zenit Saint Petersburg and UNICS Kazan were excluded from the tournament due to the situation in Ukraine, their results were cancelled. Russian clubs are also not participating in the new European Cup season.
The winning streak of CSKA, leader of the VTB United League since the start of the season, is 17 games.
Are flights to Krasnodar tiring?
– There is such a problem, it takes more than 10 hours to get there. We must not forget that Lokomotiv Kuban suffers not once or twice a season, like us, but with every trip, so it is a sin to complain. Previously, it was possible to get to New York faster than to Krasnodar, but what can you do?
Another downside is that now we don’t fly charters, but regular flights. The number of places of business is limited, we cannot put the whole team there, and there are savings. We buy two or three comfortable tickets for the “big ones”, some get two seats per person in economy class, we turn on the way back so that others get it. Hotels have also become easier to book.
– Euroleague revenues are gone, but expenses are gone. That didn’t allow you to save the charters?
— No, because the annual budget has been reduced.
– Many?
– Not much more than half of what was left. When everything around goes up in price, it’s naïve to think that a sports club will maintain the same level of security, you don’t live apart from the country. It is clear that we miss the Euroleague, but with the current budget, the ceiling objective for CSKA would be a fight to reach the playoffs. It is impossible to compete on equal terms with rivals who have twice the funding, the ability to fly charters and other “goodies”. Especially since the flights have exploded.
Everything in the world is cyclical, after a recession there will definitely be an upsurge. Yes, revenues have fallen, so the main thing is no longer just to reduce costs, but to preserve us as a whole, to minimize losses. We try to keep costs down in the face of uncertainty and not drown in tears, but look for the positive. Due to the absence of the Euroleague, for the first time in 20 years, none of the fans and journalists discuss CSKA’s budget and our players’ contracts. Nice, so to speak, bonus.
A source:
Source : MatchTV
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
