Nikolay Yaremenko: Why does Zenit sell passports

Zenit continues to award Russian passports to those who were previously considered foreign players. Now Brazilian Douglas Santos will receive “kilograms of priceless cargo.” How insiders saythe procedure for transferring the 30-year-old player to Russian citizenship has been going on for several months.

It is reported that everything is happening in an accelerated manner: Zenit sent a request to the Russian Football Union (RFU), which thoroughly studied this initiative, of course, warmly supported it and prepared a certificate of the player’s merits, accompanied by a positive reference for the next stages of citizenship registration.

The decision from above has already been made – otherwise there would be no accelerated option. “Perhaps (it will happen) even this year. “Gazprom really really wants to see Douglas finally as a Russian + in our team,” says an informed insider.

My position: there is nothing wrong with changing your sports citizenship (or citizenship in general). The statement “where you were born, you were useful there” is hopelessly outdated. Everyone has the right to live where they want. And even more so where there is work for him. I also criticized the dismissed head of the ROC Pozdnyakov precisely because he did not help his wards find algorithms for changing sports citizenship. But there it would be so that athletes have the opportunity to realize themselves in their profession and compete at major competitions.

What’s the story with Douglas Santos? In my opinion, the honorary president of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov, responded to her most honestly. He is already many years old, and will soon be 20 years old as an “honorary”. At this age and position, they usually say what they think.

“We will start playing in official competitions no earlier than in 3 years. He (Santos – ed.) will already be 33, and we need to think about whether he will be useful to the Russian national team then or not. We hardly need another Brazilian for friendly matches. Most likely, this is being done for Zenit. It is difficult to say why Brazilians receive a Russian passport – there seems to be no material benefit. If he receives a Russian passport, it will be done in the interests of Zenit, and not the Russian national team,” quote Koloskova media.

In other words, Zenit is once again cheating with the limit on foreign players. We need it, period.

Laws, algorithms, regulations should be the same for everyone, and not “everything is for our own, and according to the law for others.” But Zenit didn’t seem to have heard about it.

So, if according to the law, then Santos does not have enough grounds to obtain Russian citizenship. The main thing is that he did not live in Russia for 5 years with a residence permit.

Nevertheless, in early October, Zenit sent an appeal for the Brazilian to obtain a Russian passport. The RFU, according to numerous sources, is actively helping St. Petersburg residents in interaction with the relevant departments.

At the same time, Santos’ help will be sorely needed in the matches with Brunei and Syria. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised later by the chants about “Zenith” and shame.

“Zenit, of course, will push through this. There are no doubts. And this will be a real shame for Russian football. You don’t have to chant a chant, but use it as the official slogan of our football,” asserts sports journalist Maxim Allanazarov.

Of course, what is happening is not pure passport trading. But this is cynicism and total deception.

Mykola Yaremenkoeditor-in-chief of the RosBalt news agency, member of the executive committee of the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation