Former footballer of Kyiv’s Dynamo and Donetsk’s Shakhtar, Oleksandr Sopko shared his thoughts on the optimal number of teams in the UPL.
Oleksandr Sopko. Photo — V. Perehnyak— Two already evident newcomers in the UPL are “Epitsentr” and “Poltava”. What can be said about these teams in the context of obvious problems with infrastructure for performances in the UPL? How much does such a situation affect the image of the Premier League? And what real competition can these teams create in such conditions?
— When teams with such problems come, you realize that we are devaluing our championship to a level... you don’t even know what years this can be compared to. We cannot allow situations where a stadium is not certified during the process or issues arise with salaries for players, club employees, there is no youth school, or it is based in a completely different city according to the contract.
In connection with this, I would consider a different formula for holding the Ukrainian championship — I would shorten the number of teams, conducting it in two rounds with a split into “sixes” or “sevens”. After all, we need to maintain some kind of standard. Perhaps with 12-14 teams, the level of the championship will rise. Yes, in every city, from this life, you want some kind of celebration, and football right now — this is possibly the only thing that warms the soul. I understand the leaders and coaches of the same “Epitsentr,” I have a very good attitude towards Nahornyak and understand what a volume of work he has done, how he wanted this and achieved it. This means we need to look for opportunities.
One thing is to shoot with a few players, another thing is what comes next. If tomorrow the owner runs out of money or he decides to switch to another direction. What will the club live on then, on what basis? A substantive discussion is needed. Yes, with 16 teams it’s easier to sit back, take some passable place and continue to play. But will this develop football? I believe we all got the answer based on the results of last season’s European Cup matches.
