The Russian Football Championship attracts many fans not only in the country, but also abroad, its matches are broadcast by the world's leading TV companies. The XX championship, which took place in 2011 - 2012, became a transitional one, as it was held for the first time according to a new system.
Instructions
Step 1
The Russian championship, due to climatic conditions, was held according to the "spring-autumn" system, while in Europe the "autumn-spring" option was adopted. Proposals to switch to the European system have been heard for many years; as a result of long and heated discussions, the decision to switch to a non-European version of the championship was nevertheless made.
Step 2
The teams “Alania”, “Siberia” and “Saturn”, which played unsuccessfully in the 2009-2010 season, left the Premier League, their place was taken by “Kuban”, “Volga” and “Krasnodar”. As a result, sixteen teams took part in the 2011-2012 tournament: Amkar, Anji, Volga, Dynamo, Zenit, Krasnodar, Krylya Sovetov, Kuban, Lokomotiv, Rostov, Rubin, Spartak, Spartak-Nalchik, Terek, Tom, CSKA.
Step 3
The championship is played in two rounds. In the first, the teams hold 30 meetings, having met with each opponent twice (at home and away). According to the results of the round, the teams that took the first eight lines in the standings play further among themselves in two circles and distribute the first eight places according to the total of the points scored. The remaining teams will play for places from 9 to 16 using the same system.
Step 4
At the end of the championship, the teams that took the last two places (15 and 16) leave the Premier League, their places are taken by two teams from the First Division (Football National League). Teams ranked 13th and 14th must play play-offs with teams from the FNL ranked 3rd and 4th. The winners of the next championship will play in the Premier League, the losing teams in the Football National League.
Step 5
The first five championship winners are eligible to participate in European competitions. The team that took first place (Zenit became it in the 2011-2012 season) will play immediately in the group stage of the Champions League. The second team ("Spartak") will start playing in the third qualifying round of this tournament. The teams ranked 3 through 5 will play in the Europa League, the second most important European tournament. These teams were CSKA, Dynamo and Anji. Also, Rubin got into the Europa League thanks to the victory in the Russian Cup.
Step 6
Following the results of the 2011-2012 Russian Championship, the teams Tom and Spartak-Nalchik left the Premier League, their place was taken by the teams of the First Division, Mordovia and Alania. Teams Volga and Rostov will compete for the right to continue their participation in the Premier League in the play-offs with Shinnik and Nizhny Novgorod.
