Sergei Mokhnik: “Setanta wants to sign a three-year contract with the UPL and gives $3.2 million. This proposal needs to be impr

Serhiy Mokhnik, General Director of Dynamo Kyiv, spoke about the ongoing negotiations on the creation of a single television pool for broadcasting matches of the Ukrainian championship.

“Megogo had a ridiculous offer, there’s nothing to talk about”

- What proposals and from whom were considered at the meeting of clubs and the Premier League through a single telepool?

— There were two contenders — Setanta and Megogo. Megogo had a ridiculous offer in general, there was nothing to talk about. Setanta wants to sign a contract for three years and gives 3.2 million dollars, half of this amount will go to the production of broadcasts, the second half will be divided between the clubs.

- What is the position of Dynamo on this matter?

- 100 thousand dollars a year is, of course, not enough for clubs. But we are concerned about another question, to which no one has yet clearly answered. Matches will be played without spectators, and we believe that fans should have access to free broadcasts on national channels.

So far, we have not heard a clear answer to the question: will we be able to show matches on our YouTube channel and on the official website live. Today, not everyone can pay 100 hryvnia per month to watch football.

In addition, "Setanta" still needs to be found, not every cable provider has it. In the last year, Dynamo was not against a single telepool, but so far something is missing.

Club president (Igor Surkis, - approx. ed.) says: “I don’t need this money. I will do better so that fans have access to watch football for free.”

100 thousand dollars a year does not save Dynamo in any way with our budget and costs. Maybe they will help Minay and other clubs, but not us.

“Only Chernomorets abstained. "Dynamo", "Rukh", "Dawn", "Dnepr-1" were actually against"

- As I understand it, your position is close to the position of Rukh, whose president Grigory Kozlovsky said that he was also ready to give away the rights to UPL television broadcasting to national channels for free?

- Yes, we are also ready to transfer the rights for free, without earning a penny on it, so that people have access.

- It was reported that Rukh was the only one who voted against, while Dynamo, Zorya and Dnepr-1 abstained.

— This is incorrect information. Only Chernomorets abstained. And Dynamo, Rukh, Dawn, Dnepr-1 were actually against it. This does not mean that we are against a single telepool, but Setanta's proposal needs to be finalized.

- What else does Dynamo not like?

“They offer to share the money equally between the teams. Where is the sports principle then? Why then fight for the first place? I think this is wrong. If a team is fighting for prizes, then it should receive more. Even TK "Football" offered some formula for the distribution of funds depending on the place taken.

— Is it possible to find a common consensus on a single telepool between the clubs, the UPL and the broadcaster?

- Everything is real, you need to sit down and talk, look for compromises. Within two weeks, we will meet again, by which time Setanta should finalize its proposal. We expressed our comments, let them think.

- What proposals did Dynamo give for improvement?

- We proposed to revise the formula for distributing funds between clubs depending on the places taken. We also want there to be a parallel broadcast of matches on national channels. In wartime, this is a very topical issue. Not everyone will be able to find Setanta.

- How do the clubs that supported Setanta's proposal justify their position?

— Let's be honest. Most of our clubs feel great when they give you some money and you don't have to do anything. In addition, they do not have as many fans as Dynamo to think about them.

Andrey Piskun