The RPL could expand to 18 teams: such an initiative was put forward by Dynamo CEO Mx Gazizov at the clubs' general meeting today. In 2019, clubs have already tried to revive this story. Then everyone was in favor and only Spartak was against. It didn't work out. Then we tried on the 20th, 22nd... But it didn't work. And here is another entry.
Emilia is supported by the overwhelming majority of teams in the bottom ten, but there are also top teams that see the point in this. 4-5 clubs vs. The RFU has accepted this proposal with interest and is not yet opposed to the idea, but is awaiting a more detailed action plan.
There are several scenarios for the expansion of the Premier League:
1. Relegation at the end of the current season will be frozen and the best 2 from the FNL will be added to the 16 remaining in the RPL for next season.
2. The relegation of places 13-14 will be frozen, and places 15-16 will play against 3-4 in the FNL. Places 1-2 of the LLM will go directly to Elite.
3. The reform will be carried out according to one of the described scenarios, but not this season, but the next season, which will be the last with 16 clubs in the RPL.
Also discussed is an option where in the future only one RPL team will play in the playoffs, and two, as in the past, will be directly eliminated. Personally, I'm against it, it will disrupt the blood supply to the leagues and will only lead to stagnation.
The reasons for the reform are as follows:
1. For the foreseeable future we won't be brought back to Europe, which means the schedule won't change much. 4 more rounds are unable to start it in the spring or suspend it critically early or later in the winter. Or maybe nothing will change at all: in 14 rounds of this season, for example, we have never taken the opportunity to play midweek.
2. For big clubs, the advantage is that in the fight for the championship or the first three, the cost of error is reduced. As well as for the little ones, who will have more room to maneuver and play more relaxed football. Now every game is like the last for them, which pushes them to park a boring bus and not trust the youngsters.