Football: An Honest Story About What Really Happens

Nikolai Yaremenko is a well-known sports journalist who has dedicated more than 20 years to his craft. A multiple laureate of the National Radio Mania Award in the category "Sports Programs," an academic of the Russian Academy of Radio, a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia, and the author of books on sports. The last quarter of a century has brought far more changes to world and Russian football than all the preceding history of the most popular game in the world. The rules of the game have changed, the structure of European cups has changed (along with their number and the principles of country representation), and the financial component has strengthened. At the same time, scandals have shaken one of the giants of the world sports movement - FIFA, as well as its Russian mini-analog - the RFU. Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini, Nikolai Tolstykh, Vitaly Mutko... All of them have been sent into retirement under various pretexts and with different nuances. And all this against the backdrop of smaller scandals - fair play in Europe, awkwardness with the unjustified strengthening of the 'limit' on legionnaires, and finally, the 'cherry on top' - the infamous 'fan ID card.' After the home World Cup, Russia received a wonderful legacy - modern stadiums. Football infrastructure has taken many steps forward at once. So why hasn’t football itself in Russia made a sharp leap forward? Yet the world has surged ahead, indeed! The author of the book tries to find honest answers to this and other football questions.