Russian Premier League chief runs for FA post

July 18, 2012 | Sports | Written by

Moscow, July 18 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Russian Premier League has officially nominated its chief Sergei Pryadkin for the post of president of the Russian FA, CSKA Moscow general director Roman Babaev said Wednesday.

The FA, known officially as the Russian Football Union, has been without a president since Sergei Fursenko resigned in the wake of Russia’s Euro 2012 group stage exit.

The union is to elect a new president by secret ballot September 3.

Babaev told R-Sport that Pryadkin, 50, was backed by all 16 Premier League clubs in a meeting Wednesday.

“The fact that all 16 Russian clubs supported this candidacy speaks volumes. It’s rare we have a unanimous opinion on any kind of issue,” Babaev said.

Pryadkin faces competition from Igor Lebedev, a speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, who was nominated last week by the Smolensk Region Football Federation.

If he is elected, Pryadkin would wield greater power in the Russian game than he currently does as league chief.

He is viewed in some quarters as a controversial figure, and last year was forced to fend off corruption allegations.

The Russian union of footballers and coaches last summer initiated an investigation of Pryadkin over an alleged conflict of interests. They claimed he worked as a transfer agent while holding the post as head of the Premier League, which is prohibited under FIFA rules.

In a separate incident, Ukrainian footballer Yevgeny Levchenko threatened to take Pryadkin to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over an alleged $400,000 money laundering case.

Sufficient funds for the hearing were never raised.

Pryadkin consistently denied the allegations and was eventually cleared of wrongdoing by the Russian Football Union.

–IANS/RIA Novosti

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IANS